COMPUTER SCIENCE

Undergraduate Handbook
2019-2020

Department of Computer Science

Memorial University
St. John’s, NL
Canada
 Preface

This handbook contains information regarding all aspects of the Undergraduate Computer
Science Programs offered by the Department of Computer Science, Memorial University of
Newfoundland - from requirements for admission to our programs to degree requirements for
graduation. It should prove to be a useful source of information for potential computer science
majors as well as for those already in our program.
This handbook is to be considered a guide and not a legal document. Students are advised to
consult the 2019-2020 university Calendar regarding specific degree regulations and university
policies. For further information regarding the Department (including an online copy of this
handbook), please consult our website at www.mun.ca/computerscience or contact our General
Office located in the S.J. Carew Building, room EN-2021, or write us at the following address:

Head
Department of Computer Science
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, NL
Canada, A1B 3X5
E-mail: [email protected]

In order to consult with our Manager of Academic Programs regarding our programs and
courses, please e-mail [email protected]
Contents

1 General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1 The Computer Science Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Improving Program Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Computer Science Program Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Admission to the Computer Science Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.1 Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.2 How to Apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Selecting Your Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.1 Courses for Non-Majors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.2 Minor in Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.3 Computer Science Majors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.5.4 First Year Course Selection (B.Sc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.5 First Year Course Selection (B.A.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 Ethics of Computer Science Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.7 Information Required in Certificates from Health Professionals . . . . . . . . . 13
1.8 Computer Science Student Help Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.9 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.10 Job Opportunities and Continued Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.11 Faculty Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.12 Staff Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.13 Computing Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2 Basic Structural Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.1 Prerequisite Structure of Core Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2 Prerequisite Structure of Required Mathematics Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Course Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4 Undergraduate Programs involving Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4.1 Major in Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.4.2 Major in Computer Science (Smart Systems) (B.Sc. only) . . . . . . . . 23
2.4.3 Major in Computer Science (Visual Computing and Games)
(B.Sc. only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.4 Honours in Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.5 Honours in Computer Science (Software Engineering) (B.Sc. only) 25
2.4.6 Minor in Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4.7 Co-operative Internship in Computer Science (CICS) . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4.8 Computer Science and Statistics Joint Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.9 Computer Science and Statistics Joint Honours (B.Sc. only) . . . . . . 28
2.4.10 Computer Science and Pure Mathematics Joint Major . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.11 Computer Science and Pure Mathematics Joint Honours . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.12 Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Joint Major . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.13 Computer Science and Geography Joint Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.14 Computer Science and Geography Joint Honours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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 2.4.15 Computer Science and Physics Joint Major (B.Sc. only) . . . . . . . . . 31
2.4.16 Computer Science and Physics Joint Honours (B.Sc. only) . . . . . . . 31
2.4.17 Computer Science and Economics Joint Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4.18 Bachelor of Commerce (Co-operative) Concentrations . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4.19 Joint Degrees of Bachelor of Arts and
Bachelor of Commerce (Co-operative) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.4.20 Joint Degree of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts . . . . . . . . 33
2.5 General Degree Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.6 Second Degree in Computer Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.7 Deferred Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.8 Supplementary Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3 Description of Undergraduate Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

3.1 1000-Level Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2 2000-Level Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.3 3000-Level Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.4 4000-Level Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

4 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.1 Prerequisite Structure of Core Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Index of Computer Science Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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1 General Information

This section is an introduction to activities and resources available in the department. It is

intended to help students pursuing or wishing to pursue undergraduate studies in the Department
of Computer Science.

1.1 The Computer Science Student

We strive to turn our students into good problem solvers–whose problem solving tools are the
technology and ideas of computation. Whether your interest is game programming, media
design, mathematics, science, humanities, or computer systems design, every discipline–
practical, theoretical or creative–is experiencing an ever-increasing dependence on computer
technology.
Algorithmic problem solving–creating solutions (algorithms) that can be executed on a
machine–is fundamental to Computer Science. With a grounding in the fundamentals, a student
can continue on to explore computer systems, software architecture, web applications, databases,
computer networks, scientific applications, computer graphics, games systems, numerical
applications, and any other subject for which computers have an application. Our mission in the
Computer Science Department is to provide opportunities for students to explore their
computing interests, and one way we pursue this objective is by offering a selection of required
and elective courses covering topics of interest and importance. It is our hope that this handbook
will reflect this objective, and that you will find this material useful in matching your own
interests in computing.
The Department of Computer Science also provides a number of venues for activities,
including seminars by prominent computer scientists, programming competitions and a student-
run Computer Science Society.

1.2. Improving Program Accessibility

We have been introducing changes to make our program more accessible. There are courses
available for non-majors, including one about the history of computing (Computer Science
1400), one contrasting depiction of various aspects of computing in movies and documentaries
produced over the last 60 years (Computer Science 1401), one in multimedia programming
(Computer Science 2300) and one in computation as a means of understanding the world around
us (Computer Science 2000), and distance offerings for the information technology course
(Computer Science 1600). Computer Science 2510 (Programming in C/C++) is available to both
majors and non-majors.
If you have suggestions for developing our program, or you want to know if we have
something to fit your interests, please come talk to us.

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1.3 Computer Science Program Offerings

The Department of Computer Science has a wide range of offerings, incorporating hardware,
software, and the theory and practice of computing. Students with a strong interest in another
major subject can consider one of the joint degrees available in specific disciplines or a minor
in Computer Science to supplement their skills in their major discipline. If a minor will not fit
your program of studies, a few or even a single course in computing may be worthwhile
addition(s) to your education.
The department offers a number of joint programs, the majority of which are available
for both majors and honours. Joint programs allow for a concentration of courses in computer
science as well as in another discipline of the student's choice. Joint programs are available with
the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, Geography, Physics and Physical Oceanography,
and Economics. Specialized programs include a Software Engineering Honours and an Industry
Internship Option.
The undergraduate programs offered by the Department of Computer Science include:

Major and Honours in Computer Science

Major in Computer Science (Smart Systems) (B.Sc. only)
Major in Computer Science (Visual Computing and Games) (B.Sc. only)
Honours in Computer Science (Software Engineering, B.Sc. only)
Co-operative Internship in Computer Science (CICS)
Minor in Computer Science
Computer Science Joint Major with either
Applied Mathematics
Pure Mathematics
Statistics
Physics
Economics, or
Geography
Computer Science Joint Honours with either
Pure Mathematics
Statistics
Physics, or
Geography

Detailed information on each of these programs is available later in this handbook and
in the university Calendar.
Our Manager of Academic Programs can provide information and academic advice. An
incoming student enrolling as a computer science major is strongly advised to immediately
contact the Manager of Academic Programs when preparing their course schedules each
semester, in dropping or adding courses during a semester, or whenever a need warrants. This
can be done through email correspondence at [email protected]. Note that the final decision
on course selection is the responsibility of the student.

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1.4 Admission to the Computer Science Program

Admission to the Computer Science Major program is competitive and selective. There is only
one intake of Computer Science Majors each year. Students who would like to be considered
for admission must submit an online major application form prior to June 1.

1.4.1 Eligibility

To be eligible for admission to complete a Bachelor of Science majoring in computer science,

students must have completed 24 credit hours as listed below:

1. Computer Science 1001, 1002.

2. Six credit hours in Critical Reading and Writing (CRW) courses, including at least three
credit hours in English courses.
3. Mathematics 1000 and 1001, or 1090 and 1000.
4. Six credit hours of courses from one science subject area other than Mathematics and
Statistics and Computer Science.

To be eligible for admission to complete a Bachelor of Arts majoring in computer science,

students must have completed 24 credit hours as listed below:

1. Computer Science 1001, 1002.

2. Six credit hours in Critical Reading and Writing (CRW) courses, including at least three
credit hours in English courses.
3. Mathematics 1000 and 1001, or 1090 and 1000.
4. Six credit hours to satisfy the Language Study requirement.

Students who fulfil the eligibility requirements compete for a limited number of available
spaces. Selection is based on academic performance, normally cumulative average and
performance in recent courses.

1.4.2 How to Apply

As noted, above, there is only one intake of Computer Science Majors each year. Students who
would like to be considered for admission must submit an online major application form prior
to June 1.
A separate application is required for admission to an honours program, normally at the
beginning of the third year of studies. Acceptance of students into an honours program is based
on their academic performance in the Computer Science courses taken up to the time of
application. Students intending to pursue graduate work in computer science are strongly
encouraged to undertake an honours degree.

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1.5 Selecting Your Courses

1.5.1 Courses for Non-Majors

The Computer Science department offers a number of individual courses designed to appeal to
non-majors who want to explore and develop their computing skills and knowledge:
• Computer Science 1000 is a general introduction to computer science and
programming. In this course you will learn basic programming skills and find out
what computer science is about. It has no prerequisite.
• Computer Science 1400 gives an overview of the development of computing
technologies over the last 75 years. It has no prerequisite.
• Computer Science 1401 contrasts depictions of various aspects of computing in
various movies and documentaries produced over the last 60 years. It has no
prerequisite.
• Computer Science 1510 is about numerical problem solving and programming skills,
directed at students majoring in the mathematical sciences, including mathematics,
physics, and chemistry. It has Mathematics 1000 as its prerequisite.
• Computer Science 1600 gives students an understanding of basic concepts and
necessary skills required to use spreadsheet, database and presentation software and
to manage, analyze and present data. It has no prerequisite.
• Computer Science 2000 explores the world from a computational perspective.
Robots, the Internet, the human mind, biological growth, language and logic are
investigated in a series of classroom and lab experiences. This course is
recommended for B.A. students but is open to everyone. It has no prerequisite.
• Computer Science 2300 is a course in multimedia programming. You can build
interactive animations for the web while learning to program. It has Computer
Science 1003 as its prerequisite.
• Computer Science 2510 gives a comprehensive treatment of the C/C++ programming
languages. Computer Science 2718 enables students to improve their data
management and data processing tasks. Both of these courses are intended for
students with some first programming experience.

1.5.2 Minor in Computer Science

A Computer Science minor supplements any degree with career enhancing skills. Our minor is
very flexible, allowing students to tailor their courses to a particular interest. For example, it is
possible to accommodate a specific interest with courses related to computer graphics, software
development, scientific computing, computer networking, artificial intelligence, robotics,
information systems, mobile computing or games development.
For a Minor in Computer Science, a student must complete at least 24 credit hours in
Computer Science courses, including:

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 1. Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001.
2. At least six credit hours selected from Computer Science 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008.
3. Three additional credit hours at the 3000 level or above.
4. Additional courses as necessary, at the 2000-level or above, to fulfil the requirement
for 24 credit hours in Computer Science.

In addition to the required courses listed above (i.e., 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001), here are
some examples of courses that could be chosen to complete a minor depending on a student’s
interest.

• Interest in Software Development

< 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
< 2005 - Software Engineering
< 2006 - Computer Networking (one credit hour)
< 2007 - Introduction to Information Management (one credit hour)
< 2008 - Social Issues and Professional Practice (one credit hour)
< 3718 - Programming in the Small
< 4768 - Software Development for Mobile Devices

• Interest in Numerical or Scientific Applications

< 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
< 2005 - Software Engineering
< 2500 - Data Analysis with Scripting Languages
< 3731 - Introduction to Scientific Computing
< 4734 - Matrix Computations and Applications

• Interest in Theoretical Computer Science

< 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
< 2003 - Computer Architecture
< 3719 - Theory of Computation and Algorithms
< 4742 - Computational Complexity
< 4743 - Graph Algorithms and Combinatorial Optimization

• Interest in Information Systems

< 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
< 2006 - Computer Networking (one credit hour)
< 2007 - Introduction to Information Management (one credit hour)
< 2008 - Social Issues and Professional Practice (one credit hour)

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 • Interest in Games Programming
< 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
< 2003 - Computer Architecture
< 2300 - Introduction to Multimedia Programming
< 3300 - Interactive Technologies
< 3719 - Theory of Computation and Algorithms

1.5.3 Computer Science Majors

Computer science degree programs, like most general degree programs in the Faculty of Science
or the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, specify approximately half of the courses
required for your degree. The required computer science courses are those felt by the department
to constitute the minimum which could be expected of any student in computer science. A great
deal of your program, therefore, will be made up of elective courses, both in computer science
and other disciplines. These electives can be chosen from many areas, subject to the general
regulations for the Faculty of Science or the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Those
general regulations can be found in the university Calendar. The quality and usefulness of your
degree to both yourself and prospective employers depend, to some extent, on the elective
courses that you choose. A general recommendation is to try to have a concentration of courses
in one or two other areas: for example, an area in which you have a professional interest (an area
in which you wish to work in the future) or an area in which you have a personal interest. In
order to accomplish this, we recommend that you choose an area as a minor and work to fulfil
the requirements for a minor in that area as specified in the university Calendar.
The computer science programs offered by the Department of Computer Science keep
pace with advancement in the discipline, and provide a well-balanced foundation in the science
of information processing. Our programs cover all aspects and levels of computers and
computing. We have expertise in a variety of areas, including artificial intelligence, bio-inspired
computing, complexity theory, computer architecture, computer graphics and image processing,
database systems, design and analysis of algorithms, distributed computing, human-computer
interaction, information systems, parallel processing, pattern recognition, programming
languages, robotics, scientific computing, software engineering and web-based systems.
Computer science is a rapidly evolving discipline; the program at Memorial emphasizes the
fundamental ideas and methods underlying the discipline.
There are many current software and hardware products in common use that you will not
study in your program. In order to be aware of such products and ideas, you should undertake
to read some of the popular journals and magazines. Early in your career as a student, magazines
such as PC Magazine may be of interest. As you progress through your program, we recommend
that you read some of the more advanced journals such as the Communications of the ACM and
IEEE Computer. Many more journals on particular technical and scientific topics are published
by professional organizations or commercial publishers and are available in the university
library. Finally, a whole range of websites are available at your fingertips, providing information
on the newest processor designs, software methods or scientific applications of computing.
Degree programs in computer science have considerable flexibility. It is your
responsibility to ensure that you fulfil all the requirements of your chosen program. In your

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sixth semester or earlier, students should request a degree audit from the Registrar’s Office
to determine their status in their program. This can be done online via Self-Service.

1.5.4 First Year Course Selection (B.Sc.)

A candidate for the B.Sc. degree shall complete the core requirements, which consist of
the following:
(a) Six credit hours in Critical Reading and Writing (CRW) courses, including at least three
credit hours in English courses,
(b) Six credit hours in Mathematics and Statistics courses, and
(c) Six credit hours in each of two sciences other than Mathematics and Statistics.

The following table shows possible first year course selections for B.Sc.:

Sample Program
Semester I Semester II
Mathematics 1090 or 1000* Mathematics 1000* or 1001

Computer Science 1001 Computer Science 1002

Science elective Computer Science 1003**
English 1090 Critical Reading and Writing (CRW) course
Elective Elective

*Students completing Mathematics 1090/1000 will be required to complete Mathematics

1001 as well.
**Students who have not completed Computer Science 1003 in their first year will not
be able to register for Computer Science 2001/2002/2003 in the fall of their second year.

1.5.5 First Year Course Selection (B.A.)

A candidate for the B.A. degree shall complete the core requirements in their program. These
core requirements include:

(a) Minimum two designated courses for the Critical Reading and Writing (CRW)
requirement, one of which must be a three-credit hour 1000-level CRW course offered
by English.
(b) Minimum two designated courses for the Language Study (LS) requirement.
(c) Minimum two designated courses for the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) requirement.
(d) Courses from a minimum of six Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines.

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(e) A minor program (or, alternatively, a second major).

The following table shows possible first year course selections for B.A.:

Sample Program
Semester I Semester II
English 1090 Critical Reading & Writing course
(CRW)
Language study (LS) course Language study (LS) course
Mathematics 1090 or 1000* Mathematics 1000* or 1001
Computer Science 1001 Computer Science 1002
Elective course (breadth encouraged) Computer Science 1003**

*Students completing Mathematics 1090/1000 will be required to complete Mathematics

1001 as well.
**Students who have not completed Computer Science 1003 in their first year will not
be able to register for Computer Science 2001/2002/2003 in the fall of their second year.

1.6 Ethics of Computer Science Students

Students are requested to check their MUN email accounts frequently. Throughout the semester,
announcements concerning social functions, part-time jobs, scholarships and general items of
interest to majors may be emailed. As well, if the department needs to contact a particular
student, we will do so by email. Inappropriate use of email could result in a student losing
computer privileges.
The department uses homework assignments both as a teaching device and as a major
component of its assessment of each student. Therefore, all programs, assignments, etc.,
submitted bearing an individual student's name must be the work of that student alone.
Under normal circumstances, students may discuss assignments but may not jointly write
solutions. In particular, direct copying of another student's assignment is regarded as cheating
by all parties knowingly involved, and will be dealt with as such, following University
regulations on Academic Misconduct.
Also, devices, electronic or otherwise, are not permitted in the room during examinations
unless specifically allowed by your instructor. Please leave your phone and other devices at
home or somewhere safe. Under no circumstances will students be allowed to access phones or
devices during examination.
Computer science students are expected to maintain a high degree of honesty, dignity and
respect for their fellow students, faculty and associates, particularly while using the computing
facilities. Students are advised to refer to the General Academic Regulations (Undergraduate)
of the university Calendar for further information regarding academic misconduct.

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1.7 Information Required in Certificates from Health Professionals

A student who requests permission to drop courses, to withdraw from university studies, to have
examinations deferred or to obtain other waivers of University, departmental or course
regulations based on health issues is required by the University to provide, in support of the
request, a certificate from a health professional in the form of a note or letter. Such certificates
must be sufficiently specific to allow a proper consideration of a student’s case. The University
requires that all such certificates must be on letterhead, must be signed by the health
professional, must confirm the specific dates on which the student visited the health
professional and should include details on the following:

• The degree to which the health issue (or treatment, in the case of medication, for
example) is likely to have affected the student’s ability to study, attend classes, or sit
examinations.
• The length of time over which the student’s abilities were likely hampered by the
condition (e.g., recurring and severe back pain over a two-month period would likely
have a more adverse effect on studies than a single episode of back pain requiring bed
rest for a week).
• The fitness of the student to resume studies (it is in the student’s best interest not to
return to studies prematurely).

Confidentiality: The University respects the privacy of students and will keep confidential all
such certificates. A student should request that the health professional retain a copy of such a
certificate in case the certificate needs to be verified or reissued at a later date.

1.8 Computer Science Student Help Centre

The Department of Computer Science Student Help Centre is located in room EN-2031C of the
S.J. Carew Building. A timetable of the hours of operation can be accessed on the department
web page at www.mun.ca/computerscience and is posted outside the Centre. During academic
terms, our instructional assistants hold scheduled hours to give help with 1000- and 2000-level
laboratory courses and student assistants (senior computer science majors) are available who can
help with non-laboratory courses at the 2000, 3000 and 4000 level. All staff will review general
concepts and address difficulties associated with computer science course work. We strongly
encourage students to take advantage of the expertise of the individuals at the Centre.

1.9 Fees

Tuition Fees:
See current university Calendar. http://www.mun.ca/regoff/calendar/

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Books and Supplies:
Students should be prepared to cover the cost of textbooks and supplies each semester.
Students are cautioned to check the edition number and printing date of textbooks and manuals
prior to purchasing second-hand books; these books may have become obsolete. Within the
Department of Computer Science, there is a charge for use of the printers.

1.10 Job Opportunities and Continued Study

Students graduating from Memorial with either a B.Sc. or a B.A. degree, majoring in computer
science, have many job opportunities available to them in Newfoundland and Labrador as well
as throughout Canada and internationally. There is an ever-increasing demand for programmers
and analysts in all aspects of data processing as well as in scientific applications. There are
numerous career opportunities in hardware and software design, software and technical support,
sales, management and various levels of education.
Students who choose to do an honours degree in computer science have the same job
opportunities available to them as do those with a general degree, and have better opportunities
to pursue further study in specialized areas of computer science at the M.Sc. or Ph.D. levels.
Many Canadian universities, including Memorial, recommend an honours degree or equivalent
in computer science or a closely related discipline for entrance to the M.Sc. program.

1.11 Faculty Listing

Following is a list of faculty members and their areas of interest/research. If you want to get a
glimpse of what research in computer science is about, take some time to visit the respective
faculty member’s website or www.mun.ca/computerscience/research. Find out more about the
fascination and challenges computer science offers to you.

M. Bartha -- programming language semantics, algebra and category theory in computer

science, automata theory, graph theory

E. Brown -- human-computer interaction, hypertext, scientific visualization

S. Bungay -- genetic algorithms, mathematical modelling, numerical methods, optimization

techniques, physiological systems, computational chemistry, dynamical systems

R. Byrne -- software architecture for embedded systems

Y. Chen -- computer networking, distributed computing, combinatorial optimization,

approximation algorithms and heuristics, graph theory

D. Churchill -- artificial intelligence, video games, heuristic search, reinforcement learning,

neural networks, autonomous robotics

A. Fiech -- programming languages, lambda calculus, polymorphism, domain theory

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R. Gupta -- e-learning, microcomputer-based information systems, database systems, computer
science education

M. Hatcher -- programming languages, discrete-event simulation, artificial life

T. Hu -- evolutionary computing, bioinformatics, complex networks, machine learning

X. Jiang -- intelligent human machine interaction, human behaviour recognition, bio-signal

processing, eye-tracking and pupil diameter, human factors

A. Kolokolova -- theoretical computer science, complexity theory, mathematical logic

M. Mata-Montero -- theoretical computer science, serial and parallel computational complexity

O. Meruvia-Pastor -- interactive 3D graphics, non-photorealistic rendering, multimedia

application development, biomedical visualization

G. Miminis -- scientific computing, numerical methods in control engineering, numerical

methods for vector and parallel architectures

L. Peña-Castillo – data analysis of large scale “omic” data, bioinformatics, machine learning

J. Tang -- database systems, distributed computing, fault-tolerant computing, design and

analysis of algorithms, data mining

A. Vardy -- robot navigation, bio-inspired computing

T. Wareham -- computational biology, algorithmic design and analysis

1.12 Staff Listing

Instructional Support Staff:

Steven Johnstone, EN-1063 (Laboratory Instructor)

Stephen Anthony, EN-1062
Cindy Milley, EN-1064
Ingrid Verbree-Barnes, EN-1065

Computer Support Staff:

Michael Rayment, EN-1060 (Systems Manager)

Paul Price, EN-1051A
Andrew Draskoy, EN-1057
David Gilbert, EN-1051A

15
Marian Wissink, EN-1059

Manager of Academic Programs:

Cathy Hyde, EN-2025 and SN-2058

Internship Contacts:

Rebecca Newhook, Academic Staff Member in Co-operative Education, SN-1062.

Theresa Mackenzie, Academic Staff Member in Co-operative Education, SN-1062.

Our General Office is located in the S.J. Carew Building, room EN-2021, and is staffed by:

Jennifer Friesen
Regina Edwards
Darlene Oliver
Sharon Deir

1.13 Computing Resources

As students progress through their degree program, they are exposed to a wide variety of
computing resources and environments which allow them to gain experience that will be a
valuable asset to whatever career path they choose.
Each first-year student who takes an introductory course in computer science will receive
a LabNet account that will provide access to any of the more than 400 PCs in the following labs:

C CS-1019 (teaching/general access) Computing Services Building

• C-2003 (teaching) Chemistry-Physics Building
• CS-1009 (teaching) Computing Services Building
• Commons (general access) MUN Library
• Hatcher Commons
• Rotunda

This LabNet account will remain with students during their academic careers, and as
students advance through the program, their accounts will be extended to allow access to further,
more specialized, computing resources. Students can access their accounts from home using ssh
(secure shell). Additionally, students who have their own personal computer will be able to avail
of LabNet printing resources and file sharing resources through the university’s wireless network
using file share utilities. Students can author their personal web pages that are accessible via the
URL: http://www.pcglabs.mun.ca/~<username>
Student files are served by an IBM server connected to a SAN with a capacity of 30,000
gigabytes for student files. LabNet serves a user community of about 15,000, providing each
user with a one gigabyte personal disk quota automatically backed up on a daily basis. All labs
are equipped with up-to-date desktop computers with at least four gigabytes of memory and a

16
one gigabit ethernet LAN connection. All LabNet computers offer support for Windows 7 and
Linux operating environments. In most labs Windows 7 is the default operating environment
but Linux can be selected from the boot menu during a computer reboot initiated by clicking on
the Linux penguin. This gives students access to both Windows 7 and our Gentoo Linux
distribution as well as the Ubuntu Linux distribution. A Windows 10 virtual environment will
be available.
As students enter their third year, programming projects and assignments are carried out
primarily in EN-2036. These systems boot disklessly from redundant application servers. The
lab has been equipped with monitors that can be hooked up to laptops providing a more
ergonomic viewing area for group projects.
The department has a nine node computing cluster for distributed computing applications.
Each node has 2 Quad Core Xeon processors, 24 gigabytes of memory, and a Nvidia Tesla 1060
GPU computing card with 240 stream processors and 4 gigabytes of memory.
The Linux Operating System is a free operating system developed and maintained by
computer professionals throughout the world via the Internet. Our Linux PCs support the very
popular Gnome or Xfce desktop manager, as well as a complete software development
environment, including such languages as C, C++, Lisp, F#, Fortran, Java, Python and Objective
C. Many of these languages can be debugged under the general purpose interactive debugger gdb
with its many GUI front-ends such as kgdb or in an ide environment such as Eclipse. The Linux
system is ideal for carrying out research in computer science because the vast majority of
software that comes with the system includes source code so that students can compile their own
version of the operating system or extend the functionality of the various software packages.
Since the software is free, students are encouraged to load Linux onto a partition of their
personal PCs so that they can work in the comfort of their home. As an added bonus, students,
with their own Linux box, learn system administration skills which will be invaluable in the
competitive job market.
Over and above the application and home directory servers, the department has a number
of specialized servers. Mirror is a server dedicated to mirroring Linux distributions and
providing anonymous ftp for the department so students can avail of our network bandwidth
while downloading Linux software. stretch is our departmental web server and terra is our
SVN source code repository.
Students doing the microprocessor design course will be assigned space in EN-1049 Lab
to assemble and test microprocessor embedded control systems. This same lab is used by
students enrolled in our robotics course where they will program robotic devices to perform
various autonomous activities.
Within the Department of Computer Science most computers are running Ubuntu Linux
with Unity as the default window manager software. A number of software applications are
available including some of the following:

• A wide range of high-level languages (C, C++, Java, Mono(.net), Fortran, Lisp, F#,
Prolog, Python, Icon, Perl, Tcl, Tk, etc.)

• PC lab software consisting of (available only in labs with appropriate licenses):

S Visual Basic

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 S MATLAB and Octave
S Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer
S Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint

• MYSQL Database System

• The OCTAVE, R+ and MATLAB mathematical and statistical computational

packages

• Distributed parallel computing

S MPI (Message Passing Interface)

• Software engineering
S Eclipse
S Umbrello

• Robotic prototyping and simulation software

S Webots

• Microsoft developer network academic alliance (MSDNAA)

S Students enrolled in a computer science course can download software from
MSDNAA.

• Multimedia software including applications such as gimp (image manipulation

program), k3b CD burner program, xine video DVD and other codex viewers,
audacity audio editor

• Libre Office suite including presenter, database, spreadsheet, draw and text editing
programs

• Microprocessor Tools
S Arduino IDE
S Oregano (circuit simulation)

• Any Memorial student, while enrolled in courses, will be able to download the
following onto their personal computer:
S MATLAB
S Office 365

• Science Tools
S Molecular model viewer
S Stellarium (Planetarium)
S PyMOL (molecular graphics system)

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 • Text typesetting facilities through TEX and associated utilities

• Highspeed long haul network access to other Canadian research institutes through
CA*NET

• Internet software
S gmail, thunderbird, and pine mailers
S ftp, web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, remote desktop, wireshark

In addition to the facilities offered by the department, Information Technology Services

has the following resources:

• MUN Google email account, Google Docs and Google Drive

• Digital Media Center with the following facilities

S Assistive technology
S Access to Macs and PCs
S B/W and colour scanners
S HP colour LaserJet printer
S CD Rom Mastering System
S Graphics software for preparing diagrams and slides
S OCR software
S Video and audio editing equipment (Adobe Premiere)
S Wide format plotter
S Photo editing through Creative Cloud

Computer Access
Workstations for general use are located in the following areas: the Queen Elizabeth II Library
and the Chemistry-Physics Building. The hours of operation will be posted online.
Specialized terminal areas and laboratories for computer science students are located in the
following rooms of the Engineering Building: EN-2036 (Senior Student Lab) and EN-1049
(Student Lab).
Students living in residence also have access to their computer accounts from computers
located in various computer rooms in the residences.

Student Wireless Network

Students can avail of our campus-wide wireless network that supports Window 7/10,
Linux and Mac operating systems on laptops as well as android and iOS on touch screen devices.

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2 Basic Structural Information

This section describes the structural relationship of computer science courses and the
requirements leading toward the fulfilment of an undergraduate computer science degree.

2.1 Prerequisite Structure of Core Courses

Notes:
• Students are advised to check the specific prerequisite(s) of each elective course.
• Computer Science 2006, 2007 and 2008 are one credit-hour courses.

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2.2 Prerequisite Structure of Required Mathematics Courses

* Math 1000 and Math 2050 can be taken concurrently (with appropriate
prerequisites).

2.3 Course Offerings

A selection of the following computer science courses is normally offered during the academic
year. Students should consult the departmental website, the postings on the bulletin board
outside the General Office, or contact the Academic Program Manager ([email protected])
to determine special topics courses to be offered in any given semester. (Note: Core courses are
in bold font.)

COMP 1000 - Computer Science - An Introduction

COMP 1001 - Introduction to Programming
COMP 1002 - Introduction to Logic for Computer Scientists
COMP 1003 - Foundations of Computing Systems
COMP 1400 - Computing in the 20th Century and Beyond
COMP 1401 - Computing at the Movies
COMP 1510 - An Introduction to Programming for Scientific Computing
COMP 1600 - Basic Computing and Information Technology
COMP 2000 - Collaborative and Emergent Behaviour
COMP 2001 - Object-Oriented Programming and Human-Computer Interaction
COMP 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
COMP 2003 - Computer Architecture
COMP 2004 - Introduction to Operating Systems
COMP 2005 - Software Engineering
COMP 2006 - Computer Networking

21
COMP 2007 - Introduction to Information Management
COMP 2008 - Social Issues and Professional Practice
COMP 2100 - Social Web Analysis
COMP 2300 - Introduction to Multimedia Programming
COMP 2500 - Data Analysis with Scripting Languages
COMP 2510 - Programming in C/C++
COMP 2718 - Development Tools, Work Flows and Concepts
COMP 3100 - Web Programming
COMP 3200 - Algorithmic Techniques for Smart Systems
COMP 3201 - Introduction to Nature-Inspired Computing
COMP 3202 - Introduction to Machine Learning
COMP 3300 - Interactive Technologies
COMP 3301 - Visual Computing and Applications
COMP 3401 - Introduction to Data Mining
COMP 3550 - Introduction to Bioinformatics
COMP 3700 - Industrial Experience
COMP 3710 - Vocational Languages
COMP 3718 - Programming in the Small
COMP 3719 - Theory of Computation and Algorithms
COMP 3731 - Introduction to Scientific Computing
COMP 3753 - Computational Aspects of Linear Programming
COMP 4300 - Introduction to Game Programming
COMP 4301 - Computer Vision
COMP 4302 - 3D Computer Graphics
COMP 4303 - Artificial Intelligence in Computer Games
COMP 4304 - Data Visualization
COMP 4550 - Bioinformatics: Biological Data Analysis
COMP 4711 - Structure of Programming Languages
COMP 4712 - Compiler Construction
COMP 4715 and COMP-4717 - Special Topics in Programming Languages
COMP 4718 - Survey of Software Engineering
COMP 4721 - Operating Systems
COMP 4723 - Introduction to Microprocessors
COMP 4726 to 4729 - Special Topics in Computer Systems
COMP 4734 - Matrix Computations and Applications
COMP 4736 to 4739 - Special Topics in Numerical Computations
COMP 4740 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms
COMP 4741 - Formal Languages and Computability
COMP 4742 - Computational Complexity
COMP 4743 - Graph Algorithms and Combinatorial Optimization
COMP 4745 to 4749 (excluding 4748) - Special Topics in Theoretical Aspects
COMP 4750 - Introduction to Natural Language Processing
COMP 4754 - Database Systems

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 COMP 4756 - Image Processing
COMP 4759 - Computer Networks
COMP 4762 - Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology
COMP 4766 - Introduction to Autonomous Robotics
COMP 4767 - Information Visualization and Applications
COMP 4768 - Software Development for Mobile Devices
COMP 4770 - Team Project
COMP 4780 - Honours Project
COMP 4800 to 4825 - Special Topics

2.4 Undergraduate Programs involving Computer Science

2.4.1 Major in Computer Science

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science or the
Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Arts, as appropriate, a student must complete the
following courses:

1. Forty-five credit hours in computer science courses are required for a major:
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
and 2008.
(b) At least six additional credit hours in computer science at the 4000 level.
(c) Twelve additional credit hours in computer science at the 3000 level or beyond.

2. Additional courses required are: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics
1510 or 2550.

Notes:
• Students are encouraged to take Mathematics 3000 and Statistics 2560.
• A computer science major is encouraged to take a concentration of courses in another
discipline in order to gain a broader background. An optional minor is available with
a Bachelor of Science degree.

2.4.2 Major in Computer Science (Smart Systems) (B.Sc. only)

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science, a
student must complete the following courses:

1. Forty-five credit hours in Computer Science courses are required for a major in
Computer Science (Smart Systems):
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
and 2008;
(b) Computer Science 3200, 3201, 3202 and 3301; and

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 (c) Six additional credit hours in Computer Science courses selected from Computer
Science 3401, 3550, 4301, 4303, 4750, 4766.

2. Additional courses required are: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics
1510 or 2550.

2.4.3 Major in Computer Science (Visual Computing and Games) (B.Sc. only)

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science, a
student must complete the following courses:

1. Forty-five credit hours in Computer Science courses are required for a major in
Computer Science (Visual Computing and Games):
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
and 2008;
(b) Computer Science 3300, 3301, and 4300;
(c) Six additional credit hours in Computer Science courses selected from Computer
Science 2300, 4301, 4302, 4303, 4304; and
(d) Three additional credit hours in Computer Science courses selected from those
listed in (c) above, or Computer Science 2100, 4766, 4768.

2. Additional courses required are: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics
1510 or 2550.

2.4.4 Honours in Computer Science

Students must make a separate application for admission into an honours program. This is
normally done at the beginning of the third year of studies. Acceptance into an honours program
is based on a student’s academic performance in the computer science courses completed at the
time of application.

1. (a) In order to graduate with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree, a candidate shall
obtain:
(i) a grade of “B” or better, OR an average of 75% or higher (whichever is to the
candidate’s advantage) in the minimum number of courses in the Honours
subject (or subjects) prescribed by the Department (or, in the case of joint
Honours, Departments) concerned, excluding the 1000-level courses,
AND
(ii) an average of at least 2.75 points on the total number of courses required for
the degree.

(b) In order to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree, a student shall obtain:

24
 (i) a grade of 70% or better, or an average of 75% or higher in the minimum
number of courses (including the required courses in the Honours subject(s))
prescribed by the Department or, in the case of Joint Honours, Departments
concerned. A grade of 70% or better must be obtained in the Honours project,
AND
(ii) an average of at least 2.75 points on the total number of credit hours in the
courses required for the degree.

Note: Students who wish to fulfil the requirements of Clause (i) above using
repeated or substituted courses must obtain approval of the Head of the Department
and the Committee on Undergraduate Studies. No more than three such repeated or
substituted courses will be permitted.

See also General Regulations for Honours Degree (B.Sc. or B.A., as appropriate) in
the university Calendar.

2. Sixty-three credit hours in computer science courses are required for the honours degree
in computer science:
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
2008 and 4780.
(b) Fifteen additional credit hours in computer science at the 4000 level.
(c) Eighteen additional credit hours in computer science at the 3000 level or beyond.

3. Additional courses required are Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050 and Statistics
1510 or 2550.

Notes:
• Students are encouraged to take Mathematics 3000 and Statistics 2560.
• A computer science honours student is encouraged to take a concentration of courses
in another discipline in order to gain a broader background. An optional minor is
available with a bachelor of science degree.

2.4.5 Honours in Computer Science (Software Engineering) (B.Sc. only)

Completion of the honours in computer science (software engineering) program does not qualify
persons to hold the designation “Professional Engineer'' as defined by various provincial acts
governing the engineering profession.

1. See Section 1 (a) under Honours in Computer Science.

2. Sixty-three credit hours in computer science courses are required for the honours degree
in computer science (software engineering), including:

25
 (a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007,
2008, 4770 and 4780.
(b) Nine additional credit hours in computer science chosen from 4718, 4721, 4723,
the former 4751, the former 4753, 4756, 4759, 4766 and 4768.
(c) Nine additional credit hours in computer science at the 4000 level.
(d) Twelve additional credit hours in computer science at the 3000 level or beyond.

3. Additional courses required are: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics
1510 or 2550.

Note:
• The honours project (Computer Science 4780) must be in the area of software
engineering.

2.4.6 Minor in Computer Science

For a minor in computer science, a student must complete at least 24 credit hours in computer
science courses, including:

1. Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001.

2. At least six credit hours selected from Computer Science 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008.
3. Three additional credit hours in computer science courses at the 3000 level or above.
4. Additional courses as necessary, at the 2000 level or above, to fulfil the requirement for
24 credit hours in Computer Science.

2.4.7 Co-operative Internship in Computer Science (CICS)

The CICS provides an opportunity for qualified students to obtain rewarding placements that
help them develop practical skills in a real work setting before graduation. The CICS is
available to computer science majors who will typically apply between their third and fourth
year of studies.

Admission Requirements
In order to be considered for admission to the CICS, an applicant:
• Must be a declared computer science major
• Must be registered as full-time student at the time of application.
• Must have successfully completed Computer Science 1000, 1001, 1002, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and six credit hours at the 3000 level,
• Must have at least 15 credit hours remaining after the internship in order to satisfy
degree requirements, three of which must be in computer science, and
• Is expected to return to University as a full-time student after the internship.
In addition to the above, admission to the CICS is also subject to academic performance.

26
Internship Duration
Subject to the availability of job openings, a student may choose either an 8, 12 or 16
consecutive month internship period.

Internship Guidelines

• Internship employment is normally organized by Co-operative Education; however,

students who have been accepted to the CICS may also obtain their own internship
placements. All placements are subject to the approval of Co-operative Education and
of the Head of the Department of Computer Science.

• Students who have applied to the internship program give permission to Co-operative
Education to supply prospective employers with copies of their resume and transcript.

• After being placed with an employer, students are not permitted to drop their internship
without prior approval from Co-operative Education and the Head of the Department of
Computer Science. Students who drop an internship without permission, who fail to
honour an agreement to work with an employer, or who conduct themselves in such a
manner as to cause their discharge from the placements, will normally be awarded a fail
grade for the internship period and may not be permitted to reapply.

Note: Students should also refer to the University Regulations - General Academic Regulations
(Undergraduate).

Registration, Assessment of Performance, and Assignment of Grades

Students must register for the course Computer Science 3700 every semester during their
internship. Computer Science 3700 is a non-credit course open only to students who have been
accepted into the internship program.
During the internship, the employer and intern will complete student performance
evaluations every four months and will submit them to Co-operative Education. The final
assessment of total work performed is the responsibility of Co-operative Education, and will be
based upon both input from the employer and the intern’s final internship report.
The Internship evaluation shall consist of two components:

1. On-the-job Student Performance: Job performance shall be assessed by Co-operative

Education in consultation with the Department using information gathered during the
internship and input from the employer. Evaluation of the on-the-job student
performance will result in one of the following classifications: PASS WITH
DISTINCTION, PASS, FAIL.

2. Internship Report(s): Evaluation of the internship report will result in one of the following
classifications: PASS WITH DISTINCTION, PASS, FAIL.

27
The evaluation of the on-the-job student performance and the internship report(s) are recorded
separately on the transcript. Overall evaluation of the internship will result in one of the
following final grades being awarded:

PASS WITH DISTINCTION: indicates outstanding performance in both the internship report(s)
and the on-the-job student performance. PASS WITH DISTINCTION has been awarded to each
of the internship report(s) and the on-the-job student performance.
PASS: indicates that performance meets expectations in both the internship report(s) and on-the-
job student performance. The student meets the requirements of a passing mark in the final
internship report and on-the-job student performance.
FAIL: indicates failing performance in either the internship report(s) or on-the-job student
performance or both.

Also, the following will be noted on the transcript of the intern:

• Requirements for the Co-operative Internship in Computer Science have been

completed. Internship Duration: - months.
• A grade of NC (No Credit) for Computer Science 3700 will be awarded in all
semesters of the Co-operative Internship prior to the final semester.

CICS and Honours Program

In case a student is enrolled in both the Honours program and the CICS, the requirements
of both must be met. Upon approval from the honours project supervisor, within the Department,
the employer and the Head of the Department of Computer Science, an internship project may
be submitted as a component of an honours project. These arrangements must be made within
the first semester of the Internship placement.

2.4.8 Computer Science and Statistics Joint Major

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

(a) Computer Science 1001, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2500,
4734, plus 12 further credit hours in Computer Science courses numbered 3000 or
higher.
(b) Statistics 1510 or 2500 or 2550, and 2501 or 2560.
(c) Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, 2051, 2320, 3340, Statistics 2410 or 3410, 3411,
3520, 3521, 3540, and 4590.
(d) Nine further credit hours in statistics courses numbered 3000 or higher including at least
a three-credit hour course numbered 4000 or higher, excluding Statistics 4581.

2.4.9 Computer Science and Statistics Joint Honours (B.Sc. only)

28
As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science, the
following courses are required:

1. Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, 2051, 2320, 3340, Statistics 1510 or 2500
or 2550, 2410 or 3410, 2501 or 2560, 3411, 3520, 3521, 3540, 4530, 4590.
2. Eighteen further credit hours in statistics courses including at least 12 credit hours
in courses numbered 4000 or higher, but not including Statistics 4581 and 459A/B.
3. Computer Science 1001, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
4734.
4. Twenty-one additional credit hours in computer science courses at the 3000 level
or higher, not including Computer Science 4780.
5. Either Computer Science 4780 or Statistics 459A/B.

2.4.10 Computer Science and Pure Mathematics Joint Major

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

(a) Computer Science 1001, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
(b) Eighteen additional credit hours in computer science numbered 3000 or higher.
(c) Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, 2051, 2130, 2260, 2320, 3000, 3202, 3320,
3340 and Statistics 2550.
(d) Nine additional credit hours in courses numbered 3000 or higher offered by the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, excluding Mathematics 3330.

2.4.11 Computer Science and Pure Mathematics Joint Honours

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

1. At least 51 credit hours in computer science are required including the following:
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
(b) Excluding Computer Science 4780, 24 additional credit hours from courses
numbered 3000 or higher, at least nine credit hours of which must be in courses
at the 4000 level.

2. The following courses in mathematics and statistics are required:

(a) Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, 2051, 2130, 2260, 2320, 3000, 3001, 3202,
3210, 3320, 3340, Statistics 2550;
(b) Either Mathematics 4000 or 4001;
(c) Excluding the former Mathematics 3330, the former 4399, and 439A/B, 15
additional credit hours in courses offered by the Department of Mathematics and
Statistics numbered 3000 or higher including at least nine credit hours from

29
 courses numbered 4000 or higher and at least nine credit hours in pure
mathematics courses;
(d) An honours dissertation in one of the departments, with the topic chosen in
consultation with both departments.

2.4.12 Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Joint Major

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:
(a) Computer Science 1001, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,
plus 18 further credit hours in computer science courses numbered 3000 or higher.
(b) Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, 2051, 2130, 2260, 2320, 3000, 3100, 3132,
3161, 3202, 4160 and 4190.

In addition, Statistics 2550 is highly recommended.

2.4.13 Computer Science and Geography Joint Major

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

1. Computer science requirements: Thirty-nine credit hours in computer science

courses are required: 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2500, 4751, plus six further credit hours in Computer Science courses
numbered 3000 or higher.
2. Geography requirements: Thirty-nine credit hours in geography courses are
required: 1050, 2001, 2102, 2195, 2302, 2425, 3202, 3222, 3250, 3260, 4202,
4250, 4261.
3. Additional requirements: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics
2550.

2.4.14 Computer Science and Geography Joint Honours

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

1. Computer Science Requirements: Forty-eight credit hours in computer science

courses are required for the joint honours:
(a) 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 4751.
(b) Six additional credit hours in courses at the 4000 level not including
Computer Science 4780.
(c) Twelve additional credit hours in courses at the 3000 level or beyond.

30
 2. Geography Requirements: Forty-eight credit hours in geography courses are
required for the joint honours: 1050, 2001, 2102, 2195, 2226, 2302, 2425, 3202,
3222, 3226, 3250, 3260, 3303, 4202, 4250, 4261 and the former 4291.

3. Additional Requirements
(a) Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000 and 2050.
(b) An honours dissertation (either Computer Science 4780 or Geography
4999). The topic for dissertation must be chosen with the prior approval of
the heads of both departments.

2.4.15 Computer Science and Physics Joint Major (B.Sc. only)

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science, the
following courses are required:

1. Chemistry 1050 and 1051 (or Chemistry 1010, 1011 and the former 1031).
2. Thirty-nine credit hours in Computer Science are required for the Joint Major:
1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 3731 plus
nine further credit hours in Computer Science courses numbered 3000 or higher,
including at least three credit hours at the 4000 level.
3. Physics 1050 (or 1020) and 1051 plus at least 30 additional credit hours in Physics
including 2053, 2055, 2750, 2820, 3220, 3400, 3500, 3750, 3800.
4. (a) Mathematics 1000 and 1001.
(b) Mathematics 2000, 2050, 2260, 3202.
(c) Additional electives to bring the credit hours to 120. Computer Science
2500 and Statistics 2550 are recommended.

2.4.16 Computer Science and Physics Joint Honours (B.Sc. only)

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science, the
following courses are required:

1. Chemistry 1050 and 1051 (or Chemistry 1010, 1011, and the former 1031) (or
1200 and 1001).
2. (a) Computer Science 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 3731.
(b) Nine additional credit hours in Computer Science courses numbered 3000
or higher, including at least three credit hours in courses at the 4000 level.
3. (a) Physics 1050 (or 1020) and 1051.
(b) Physics 2053, 2055, 2750, 2820, 3220, 3400, 3500, 3750, 3800, and 3820.
(c) Three additional credit hours in Physics at the 4000 level.
4. Physics 490A and Physics 490B or Computer Science 4780, and three additional
credit hours in Computer Science at the 4000 level.
5. (a) Mathematics 1000 and 1001.

31
 (b) Mathematics 2000, 2050, 2260, and 3202.
6. Six credit hours in Critical Reading and Writing (CRW) courses, including at least
three credit hours in English courses.
7. Two electives to bring the total credit hours to 120. Computer Science 2500 and
Statistics 2550 are recommended.

The topic for the honours project or thesis, Computer Science 4780 or Physics 490A/B, must be
chosen with the prior approval of both departments.

2.4.17 Computer Science and Economics Joint Major

As a component of the Degree Regulations for the General Degree of Bachelor of Science the
following courses are required:

1. Computer Science Requirements: Forty-two credit hours in computer science

courses are required: 1001, 1002, 1003, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2500, 3731, 3753, plus six further credit hours in Computer Science
courses numbered 3000 or higher.

2. Economics Requirements: A total of 42 credit hours in economics courses is

required: 1010 (or the former 2010), 1020 (or the former 2020), 2550, 3000, 3001,
3010, and six credit hours from either 3550 and 3551, or 4550 and 4551 are
obligatory.

The remaining 18 credit hours shall be chosen from among the various economics
courses in consultation with the head of the department or delegate, and will
include at least nine credit hours in courses at the 4000-level.

3. Additional requirements: Mathematics 1000, 1001, 2000, 2050, and Statistics

2550.

2.4.18 Bachelor of Commerce (Co-operative) Concentrations

See university Calendar, Faculty of Business Administration Program Regulations and Business
Concentrations for further information.

2.4.19 Joint Degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce (Co-operative)

Any student who is admitted into the Bachelor of Commerce (Co-operative) program may
simultaneously complete the requirements for a Bachelor of Arts program. The Major or Minor
program for the Bachelor of Arts can be Computer Science. See the university Calendar,
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences or Faculty of Business Administration Degree
regulations for further information.

32
2.4.20 Joint Degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts

Students who wish to simultaneously complete a Bachelor of Science program and a Bachelor
of Arts program may do so by completing a minimum of 135 credit hours in courses and are not
required to complete a minor. See the university Calendar, Faculty of Science entry for the Joint
Degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts.

2.5 General Degree Regulations

Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the general degree requirements (as
printed in the Calendar) pertaining to their chosen faculty (science, or humanities and social
sciences).

In order to graduate with the General Degree of Science, a student shall have:
(a) Satisfied the conditions of General Academic Regulations (Undergraduate);
(b) Obtained an average of at least 2.0 points in the 78 credit hours in Science
required for the degree;
(c) Obtained an average of at least 2.0 points in the minimum number of prescribed
courses in the major subject(s).

In order to graduate with the Bachelor of Arts General Degree, a student shall obtain:
(a) An average of 60% or higher on the minimum number of courses prescribed for
the Major program, and
(b) An average of 60% or higher on the minimum number of courses prescribed for
the Minor program.

2.6 Second Degree in Computer Science

A student can receive a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Memorial, even if they
already have a bachelor’s degree in another subject from Memorial. In order to receive a second
degree majoring in computer science, a student must consider the following regulations:

(a) Section 6.2.3 of the General Academic Regulations (Undergraduate) of the

university Calendar states: “A student will not be awarded the same bachelor’s
degree more than once by this university.” Thus if a student already has a
Bachelor of Science degree, then they must complete the computer science degree
requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree. If they already have a Bachelor of
Arts degree, then they must complete the requirements for a Bachelor of Science
degree. A student can also convert a general degree into an honours degree (e.g.,
B.Sc to B.Sc Honours).

(b) Section 6.3.3 of the General Academic Regulations (Undergraduate) of the

university Calendar states: “Every student for a second bachelor’s degree shall
complete at least 30 credit hours at this university beyond those required for the

33
 first degree. These credits must be applicable to the degree sought.” This means
that a second degree can be obtained with a minimum of 30 extra credit hours.
However, meeting the requirements for the computer science degree can result in
taking more than 30 extra credit hours.

Any student wishing to take computer science as a second degree should consult with the
Department of Computer Science to ensure that all regulations can be met as efficiently as
possible.

2.7 Deferred Exams

(a) Final Examinations: Please refer to Section 6.8.2 of the General Academic
Regulations (Undergraduate) of the university Calendar.

(b) Midterms and Term Tests: Please note that deferred midterms and term tests are
at the discretion of the instructor of each course.

2.8 Supplementary Exams

(a) Supplementary examinations will be allowed in certain of the computer science

courses which have written final examinations. In each course, students will be
informed as to the possibility of a supplementary examination during the first
week of classes. This information will be provided in writing, as part of the
Course Syllabus.

(b) Supplementary examinations will be similar in length and degree of difficulty as

the original final examination.

(c) Students who wish to write a supplementary examination must complete the
Supplementary Examination Form within one week of release of grades by the
university. Forms are available in the Computer Science General Office, EN-
2021.

(d) Students who have clear or conditional standing may write a supplementary
examination in a course if they obtained a final grade of 45-49F and if their grade
in the course excluding the original final examination is at least 50%.

(e) In order to pass the course, the student must pass the supplementary examination.
If the student passes the supplementary examination, then a new grade will be
calculated using the same weighting scheme as used in the course, but with the
result of the supplementary examination replacing that of the original final
examination. Any additional course requirements, including a requirement to pass
the laboratory component of a course, will continue to apply.

34
(f) If the new final grade is higher than the original, it will replace the original grade
on the student's transcript, subject to the condition that the new final grade will
not exceed the grade which the student had obtained in the course, excluding the
original final examination . . . The student's transcript will indicate that the course
result was earned as the result of a supplementary examination.

(g) Supplementary examinations will be written no later than the first week of the
semester immediately following the one in which the course was failed. Normally
they will coincide with the writing of deferred examinations. Grades for
supplementary examinations will be submitted to the Office of the Registrar
within one week following the commencement of classes for that semester.

(h) A student may write only one supplementary examination for any one registration
in a course; if a failing grade is obtained in the course following the
supplementary examination, then the course must be repeated in order to obtain
credit.

35
3 Description of Undergraduate Courses

Throughout the following sections, an asterisk * placed after a course number indicates that
there are other prerequisites.

3.1 1000-Level Courses

COMP 1000 Computer Science - An Introduction

COMP 1001 Introduction to Programming
COMP 1002 Introduction to Logic for Computer Scientists
COMP 1003 Foundations of Computing Systems
COMP 1400 Computing in the 20th Century and Beyond
COMP 1401 Computing at the Movies
COMP 1510 An Introduction to Programming for Scientific Computing
COMP 1600 Basic Computing and Information Technology

36
 COMP 1000
Computer Science - An Introduction

Students Interested
This course is an introductory course to computer science for students who are not
completing a computer science major or minor.

Objectives of the Course

This course gives students an overview of computer science providing them with a
foundation from which they can better appreciate and understand computing in everyday life.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload

Assignments 10%
Lab Quizzes 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 45%

Representative Course Outline

• Algorithms and Programming (9 lectures)
• Inside the Dream Machine (9 lectures)
- Number Systems, Digital Circuits, Computer Organization, System Software
• Techniques and Applications (14 lectures)
- Databases, Networks, Security, Theoretical Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 1000 and the former Computer
Science 2742, Engineering 4424 and Mathematics 2320.
• Credit cannot be received for Computer Science 1000 if Computer Science 1003 has
already been taken.

37
 COMP 1001
Introduction to Programming

Students Interested
This course is the first course in programming for all computer science majors and
minors.

Objectives of the Course

This course is an introduction to fundamental programming techniques, primitive data
types, and simple algorithms and their design concepts.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
COMP 2001*, COMP 2002*, COMP 2003*, COMP 2500, COMP 2510, COMP 2742*,
COMP 3731*, Mathematics 2130*

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
Lab Quizzes 15%
Test(s) 20%
Final Exam 45%

Representative Course Outline

• Fundamental programming constructs: data types, variables, operations, expressions,
assignment statements, input, output, selection, repetition, functions, file input/output (12
hours)
• Algorithms and problem solving (4 hours)
• Fundamental data structures: strings, arrays, lists, sets and dictionaries (6 hours)
• Object-oriented programming: objects, methods, operator overloading, inheritance,
method overriding, polymorphism (6 hours)
• Recursion (3 hours)
• Exception handling (2 hours)
• Searching (linear, binary) and sorting (insertion, selection, bubble) (2 hours)
• Linked lists (3 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 1001 and Computer Science 1710.

38
 COMP 1002
Introduction to Logic for Computer Scientists

Students Interested
This course is an introduction to discrete structures for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to provide basic understanding of logic and discrete
structures used throughout computer science, with the focus on computer science-specific
applications such as Boolean circuits and basic algorithm analysis.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
COMP 2002*, COMP 2003*, COMP 3719*, COMP 3724*, COMP 3754*

Representative Workload
Quizzes 30%
Assignments 40%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Propositional and predicate logic (9 hours)
• Set theory, functions, relations and incomputability (4 hours)
• Proof techniques including induction (10 hours)
• Basic counting and modular arithmetic (5 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 1002 and either of Computer
Science 2742, Engineering 4424.
• Students cannot receive credit for Computer Science 1002 if completed with, or
subsequent to, Mathematics 2320.

39
 COMP 1003
Foundations of Computing Systems

Students Interested
This course is a follow-up to a course in computer programming and would be of interest
to students who want to pursue a degree in computer science or to those who are interested in
learning foundational ideas in the science of computing.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to provide a solid introduction to foundational topics in
computer science: algorithms and data structures, theory of computing, machine architecture and
their historical context.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001

Co-requisite(s)
COMP 1002 or Mathematics 2320

Successor(s)
COMP 2001*, COMP 2002*, COMP 2003*, COMP 2500, COMP 2510, COMP 2742*,
COMP 3731*, Mathematics 2130*

Representative Workload
Assignments 10%
Lab Quizzes 10%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Algorithms and data structures
- Abstract data types and their implementation; using, designing and creating data
types
- Algorithms for sorting and searching
- Fundamental data structures and their performance characteristics

• Theory of computing
- Alphabets, formal languages and their descriptions
- Abstract machines, finite state automata, Turing machines
- Universality
- Computability
- Intractability

40
 • Machine architecture
- From abstract machines to “real computers”
- Representation of information, characters, integers and floating point numbers
- Machine language programming
- Virtual machines
- Boolean logic and the circuit model
- Combinational circuits, gates, multiplexors, decoders, arithmetic and logic unit
- Sequential circuits, flip-flops, memory, registers, clock
- Digital devices, program counter, control, central processing unit

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.

41
 COMP 1400
Computing in the 20th Century and Beyond

Students Interested
Given the ubiquitous nature of computing in everyday life as well as the increasing
number of reports in the news of computing-related calamities, the material in this course will
give members of the general student population the tools to understand how computing impacts
them and what they can do to both embrace the potential and mitigate the risks of applying
computing technologies in their professional and private lives.

Objectives of the Course

This course will give an overview of the development of computing technologies over
the last 75 years as well as both the perception of these technologies by, and their impact on,
society. The course will be organized chronologically by decade, and within each decade will
examine the dominant computing developments, their image in various print and pictorial media,
and their social impact. The aim is to give students of all disciplines an appreciation of the
abilities and limitations of computer technology and how such technologies interact with society.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
In-class Exams (4) 100%

Representative Course Outline

In each course unit below, material will be organized by, and presented sequentially, as
three themes: Technology (e.g., processing/memory/I/O/network), Applications (e.g., areas of
application/user-group/level of knowledge required), and Impact (e.g., social/economic issues
and problems raised by technology, depictions of technology and its creators and users in the
media).

• How We Got Here: Computing in the Past (6 weeks)

(In the Beginning (pre-1940); The First Computers (1940-1955); The Rise of the
Machines (1955-1970); The Personal Computer Revolution (1970-1990); The Wired
Society (1990-now))\
• Where We Are: Computing Now (4 weeks)
(An examination of selected issues in current computing, e.g., life online, big data and
privacy, robots and artificial intelligence)
• Where We’re Going: Computing in the Future (1 week)

42
 COMP 1401
Computing at the Movies

Students Interested
Misconceptions about the nature, abilities, and limitations of computing devices, as well
as the computing profession and those within it, are widespread – fostered in large part by
(mis)representations of computing in print and audiovisual media. Such misconceptions can
have far-reaching consequences given the increasing prominence of computing in personal,
commercial, and political life. The main objective of this course is to critically examine these
misconceptions through viewing, discussing, and writing about representations of computing in
various movies and documentaries produced over the last 60 years. A secondary, but
nonetheless still important objective, will be to stimulate interest in computing in the context of
a non-technical and easily accessible introduction to computing and the computing profession.

Objectives of the Course

This course will both examine and counter common misconceptions about computing
and the computing profession. This will be done by contrasting depictions of various aspects
of computing in various movies and documentaries produced over the last 60 years with the
reality of these aspects as given in selected readings and course lecture notes.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Course Participation 10%
Critical Film Commentaries (2) 30%
In-class Exams (2) 30%
Term Paper 30%

Representative Course Outline

This course will be taught once a week in a three-hour lecture slot. Several days before
each lecture, introductory notes on the area of computer science treated in the film will be
provided on the course website; the expectation is that this content will be read before the
lecture. In each lecture, there will be a brief (15-25 minute) introduction by the instructor before
the screening of that week's film. The screening will be followed by further notes from the
instructor and class discussion.
Over the course of the term, the students will submit 2 four-page (double-spaced) papers
on two different films presented in the course lectures (one from the films in weeks 1-5, the
other from the films in weeks 7-11) in which a critical assessment is given of both the
(in)accuracy of the portrayal of computing in that film as well as how the film affects the public's
perception of computing. Each student will also submit an 8-10 page (double-spaced) term paper

43
assessing, comparing, and contrasting three of the films shown in the course plus one other film
selected in consultation with the instructor.

The films will follow a roughly chronological course from 1955 to the present, with each film
touching on one or more of the following three broad themes: Computing in the Popular
Imagination (CI), Computing and Society (CS), and the Computing Profession (CP).

A sample set of films and associated readings is as follows:

Week 1: Introduction: Computing and Hollywood v1.0
Presented Viewing: Westworld (1973) (CI1)

Week 2: Inside the Dream Machine

Presented Viewing: Tron (1982) (CI2)

Week 3: Computing and the Workplace

Presented Viewing: Desk Set (1957) (CS1)

Week 4: Computing and the Military

Presented Viewing: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1969) (CI3)

Week 5: Computing and Medicine

Presented Viewing: The Terminal Man (1974) (CS2)

Week 6: The Personal Computer Revolution

Presented Viewing: Pirates of Silicon Valley (TV) (1999) (CP1)

Week 7: The Hacker Mystique

Presented Viewing: Hackers (1995) (CP2)

Week 8: Computing and Privacy

Presented Viewing: The Net (1995) (CS3)

Week 9: The Business of Computing I

Presented Viewing: The Social Network (2010) (CP3)

Week 10: The Wired World

Presented Viewing: Men, Women and Children (2014) (CS4)

Week 11: Artificial Intelligence

Presented Viewing: A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001 (CI4)

Week 12: The Business of Computing II

Presented Viewing: Revolution OS (2001) (CP4)

44
 COMP 1510
An Introduction to Programming for Scientific Computing

Students Interested
Those who are interested in learning a programming language, as well as various
numerical methods relevant to scientific computing. Numerical methods to solve selected
problems from Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics will be covered.

Objectives of the Course

To introduce students to basic programming in the context of numerical methods, with
the goal of providing the foundation necessary to handle larger scientific programming projects.

Prerequisite(s)
Mathematics 1000

Successor(s)
COMP 2500, COMP 2510, Mathematics 2130*

Representative Workload
Lab Quizzes / Assignments 40%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Computer terminology and fundamental concepts, problem solving, floating point
arithmetic
• Programming in Fortran 90
S Data types, expressions, I/O, formatted I/O, if statement, logical operators, loops,
arrays, subprograms
• Numerical methods to solve selected problems from Physics, Chemistry, and
Mathematics.
• Programming in C
S Data types, expressions, I/O, formatted I/O, if statement, logical operators, loops,
arrays, subprograms

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as scheduled in the
university timetable. Laboratory sections will meet for the first two and one-half hours
of the laboratory slots.
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 1510 or the former
Computer Science 2602.
• Students who have received credit for the former Applied Mathematics 2120 cannot
receive credit for Computer Science 1510.

45
 COMP 1600
Basic Computing and Information Technology

Students Interested
Any students who will benefit from learning the basic concepts and skills required for
information management and data analysis.

Objectives of the Course

To provide students with an understanding of basic concepts and necessary skills
required to use spreadsheet, database and presentation software to manage, analyze and present
data.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 15%
Quizzes/Labs (9) 9%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 56%

Representative Course Outline

• Use Windows operating system to
S Organize files and manage files

• Use MS-Excel software to

S Understand the basics of electronic spreadsheets
S Process data from large multi-sheet workbooks by performing simple and/or
complex calculations with built-in functions and formula
S Make decisions, find desired outcomes and graph data
S Summarize and analyze data
S Design workbooks

• Use MS-Access software to

S Understand the basics of a database and Database Management System (DBMS)
S Design simple and complex queries to retrieve the desired information from a
database
S Implement security and integrity for a database
S Design a database

46
 • Use MS-PowerPoint to create efficient presentations

• Integrate data from more than one application (MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Access and
MS-PowerPoint)

• Labs
S Lab 1 - System Software
S Lab 2 - Spreadsheet I
S Lab 3 - Spreadsheet II
S Lab 4 - Spreadsheet III
S Lab 5 - Spreadsheet IV
S Lab 6 - Database I
S Lab 7 - Database II
S Lab 8 - Database III
S Lab 9 - Presentation Software and Integration

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 1600, the former
Computer Science 2650, the former Computer Science 2801 or the former Business
2700.

47
3.2 2000-Level Courses

COMP 2000 - Collaborative and Emergent Behaviour

COMP 2001 - Object-Oriented Programming and Human-Computer Interaction
COMP 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms
COMP 2003 - Computer Architecture
COMP 2004 - Introduction to Operating Systems
COMP 2005 - Software Engineering
COMP 2006 - Computer Networking
COMP 2007 - Introduction to Information Management
COMP 2008 - Social Issues and Professional Practice
COMP 2100 - Social Web Analysis
COMP 2300 - Introduction to Multimedia Programming
COMP 2500 - Data Analysis with Scripting Languages
COMP 2510 - Programming in C/C++
COMP 2718 - Development Tools, Work Flows and Concepts

48
 COMP 2000
Collaborative and Emergent Behaviour

Students Interested
A grasp of computation as a significant paradigm for understanding both technology and
modern models of natural phenomena, and its connection to other fields of human inquiry, is
valuable for students generally. Existing courses related to computation are not generally
accessible to majors in non-mathematical disciplines, and require extensive background in
programming. This course is intended to be generally accessible to undergraduate students, and
will be of particular interest to students in Communications Studies.

Objectives of the Course

Collaborative and Emergent Behaviour is a survey of computation as a means of
understanding, modeling, and describing artificial and natural systems. The emergence of
complex behaviour from the interaction of simple rules governing individual components is
illustrated and discussed, as well as the role of communication between system components.
Selected systems to be studied will be drawn from different topic areas which may include the
worldwide web, the mind (cognitive science), formal logic, autonomous robotics, chaos and
fractals, and bioinformatics. Each topic will incorporate an associated laboratory experience.

Prerequisite(s)
None

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Topic Tests (5) 25%
Lab Reports (6) 25%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction
S Complex systems: Examples of complex systems, concepts of causality,
predictability, and determinism in classical natural science, introduction to
chaos, randomness, and emergence as properties of dynamical systems.
S Communication and logic: “Real-world” reasoning versus formal logic,
semantic limitations, concept of “truth” and “knowable,” communication,
representation, and encoding of information.

49
 • Selected Topic Area: Chaos and fractals
Examples of self-similarity in nature and mathematics, dimensionality in fractal
objects, feedback and stability of dynamical systems.
Lab work: Guided exploration of rules for generation of fractal objects and
landscapes.

• Selected Topic Area: Internet and Mobile Computing

Models of networks (client-server, peer-to-peer, etc.), web technologies and
applications, protocols, layers, switching.
Lab Work: Use mobile devices to explore underlying functionality of network
(connectivity, authentication, security).

• Selected Topic Area: Bioinformatics

Function and encoding (DNA/RNA/transfer RNA), pattern matching, sequence
alignment, gene regulation and metabolism.
Lab Work: Sequence reconstruction and pattern matching (using GENBANK).

• Selected Topic Area: Robotics

Kinematics, perception, and control, swarm intelligence, communication and
emergence.
Lab Work 1: Experiment with control parameters for a two-wheeled robot.
Lab Work 2: Experiment with rules for robot co-operation and group behaviour.

• Selected Topic Area: Cognitive Science

Metaphors for mind, mind as computation, limits on computational minds, human
problem-solving, artificial intelligence.
Lab Work: Beat the computer at problem solving; can you pass a reverse Turing
test?

Comments or Notes
• Students will be expected to attend six bi-weekly three-hour lab sessions and to
submit a lab report at the end of each lab.

50
 COMP 2001
Object-Oriented Programming and Human-Computer Interaction

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors and minors.

Objectives of the Course

Advancing from Introduction to Programming, this course studies object-oriented
programming. Additional topics include event-driven programming, program correctness
and simple refactoring, as well as interfaces and human-computer interaction. A brief
overview of programming languages is also provided.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001, COMP 1003 and Mathematics 1000

Successor(s)
COMP 2005, COMP 2006*, COMP 3200*, COMP 3202*, COMP 3300, COMP
3550*, COMP 3753*, COMP 4300*, COMP 4304*, Mathematics 2130*

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
Lab Quizzes 15%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 45%

Representative Course Outline

• Object-oriented programming (10 hours)
• Event-driven programming (2 hours)
• An overview of programming languages (3 hours)
• Program correctness and simple testing and refactoring (4 hours)
• User interfaces, and human-computer interaction (8 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2001 and the former Computer
Science 2710.

51
 COMP 2002
Data Structures and Algorithms

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to teach problem solving techniques via fundamental
algorithms and data structures, basic design techniques and analysis. The course will be
taught primarily in a language-neutral manner, with material presented mainly in
pseudocode; however, it will incorporate a significant programming (implementation)
component through its assignments and labs.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001, COMP 1002 and COMP 1003

Successor(s)
COMP 2004*, COMP 2006*, COMP 2007*, COMP 3200*, COMP 3201, COMP
3202*, COMP 3301*, COMP 3401*, COMP 3710, COMP 3718, COMP 3719*,
COMP 4304*, COMP 4766*

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
Lab Quizzes 15%
Test(s) 20%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Algorithm analysis (5 hours)
• Algorithm design techniques: brute-force, greedy, divide-and-conquer, backtracking,
dynamic programming (5 hours)
• Data structures (stacks, queues, binary search trees, hash tables, graphs) (6 hours)
• Fundamental algorithms: sorting, searching, BFS/DFS, MST, shortest path (12 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2002 and the former Computer
Science 2711.

52
 COMP 2003
Computer Architecture

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors. Since this course addresses
the how and why of computer organization, anyone who is interested in an understanding of
how computers are constructed should take this course.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to explore the architecture of computers and how
computers are constructed. The course will examine the classical components of a computer
system, such as control, data path, memory, input and output. The course will also examine
the common levels of abstraction used to reason about computer organization and
architecture. These include: instruction set architectures, hardware components, register
transfer level and logic design.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001, COMP 1002 and COMP 1003

Successor(s)
COMP 2004*, COMP 4711*, COMP 4712*, COMP 4723, COMP 4770*

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
In-class Exam 20%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Computer components (CPU, ALU, buses, memory, I/O devices) (5 hours)
• Integer arithmetic, bitwise operations (3 hours)
• State machines (4 hours)
• Instruction set architecture (5 hours)
• Boolean algebra and logic design (2 hours)
• Register transfer level (3 hours)
• Memory management (3 hours)
• Interruption and IO (1 hour)
• Multiprocessing and alternative architectures (2 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2003 and the former Computer
Science 3724.

53
 COMP 2004
Introduction to Operating Systems

Students Interested
This course is the first course in operating systems for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

The main objectives of the course are to learn how an operating system interfaces the
hardware and software resources with the user’s environment, to learn the compositions and
connections of multilevel operating systems and to design substantial parts of an operating
system.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 and COMP 2003

Successor(s)
COMP 2006*, COMP 2007*, COMP 4721, COMP 4754*, COMP 4759*

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
In-class Exam 20%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction, overview, and history (2 hours)
• Process management (5 hours)
• Process coordination (4 hours)
• Memory hierarchy and management (4 hours)
• File management (2 hours)
• Interface communication (3 hours)
• Protection (2 hours)
• Performance evaluation (3 hours)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2004 and the former Computer
Science 3725.

54
 COMP 2005
Software Engineering

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors and is aimed at helping
students build an understanding of how to develop a software system from scratch by guiding
them through the development process and giving them the fundamental principles of
systems development with object-oriented technology.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to create a software system from requirements capture,
perform requirements capture with use case analysis, create an object-oriented domain
analysis model from the use cases, transform the domain model into software classes and
apply design patterns in selecting and creating the software.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001

Successor(s)
COMP 4718, COMP 4768*, COMP 4770*

Representative Workload
Project 1 15%
Project 2 15%
Project 3 20%
Midterm 1 25%
Midterm 2 25%

Representative Course Outline

• Software development process definitions (3 hours): Software lifecycles, activities
within software lifecycles, systems level considerations, i.e., the interaction of
software with its intended environment, introduction and evaluation of software
process models, programming in the large vs. individual programming.
• Use cases and UML use case notation (2 hours)
• Applying use case for requirement capture (2 hours)
• Design patterns (8 hours)
• Software construction (2 hours)
• Software project management (2 hours)
• Software verification and validation (4 hours)
• Software evolution (1 hour)
• Software reliability (1 hour)
• Professional communication (1 hour)
• Professional ethics (1 hour)

55
 • Defensive programming (1 hour)
• Optional: Software tools, cvs, ant, junit

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2005 and the former Computer
Science 3716.

56
 COMP 2006
Computer Networking

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to study design of Internet protocols and their
performance. It will focus on the most commonly used of those protocols that are in the vast
majority of modern computer systems.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001 and COMP 2002

Co-requisite(s)
COMP 2004

Successor(s)
COMP 4759*, COMP 4768*, COMP 4770*

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
Project 20%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction and protocol stack layering (1 hour)
• Essential application-layer protocols (1 hour)
• Programming with socket (1 hour)
• Transport layer, reliable data transfer, and TCP/UDP (2 hours)
• Network layer, switching, routing, and IP (2 hours)
• Link and access technologies (2 hours)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2006 and the former Computer
Science 3715.
• Computer Science 2006 is a one credit-hour course.

57
 COMP 2007
Introduction to Information Management

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to present basic concepts in database systems and
information management.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002

Co-requisite(s)
COMP 2004

Successor(s)
COMP 3200*, COMP 3201*, COMP 3401*, COMP 4754*, COMP 4770*

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
Projects (2) 50%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Basic information storage and retrieval, capture and representation (1 hour)
• Queries and links, analysis, indexing, quality issues such as scalability (2 hours)
• Database systems, core DBMS function design, architecture, use of a declarative
query language (3 hours)
• Data modeling (2 hours)
• Security and privacy (1 hour)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2007 and the former Computer
Science 3754.
• Computer Science 2007 is a one credit-hour course.

58
 COMP 2008
Social Issues and Professional Practice

Students Interested
This course is a required course for all computer science majors.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers ethical and social considerations of computing to provide students
with a basis to address these issues by appropriate actions. Case studies are used to illustrate
these and other professional challenges of computing.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1003

Successor(s)
COMP 4767*, COMP 4768*

Representative Workload
In-class participation 10%
Assignments 30%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Social implications of computing (both positive and negative) (1 hour)
• Fundamentals of ethical analysis (3 hours)
- Ethical argumentation and theories
- Analysis of case studies
• Professional ethics (2 hours)
- Professional codes of ethics
- Ethical responsibilities in software development
• Intellectual property (IP rights, copyright, plagiarism, software piracy,
open source) (1 hour)
• Privacy and civil liberties (1 hour)
• Sustainability (1 hour)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2008 and the former Computer
Science 2760.
• Computer Science 2008 is a one credit-hour course.

59
 COMP 2100
Social Web Analysis

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Visual Computing and
Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers the analysis of social network structures, the flow of data within them
and the methods to extract useful information about these networks, their participants and the
content of their communication. Security and trust issues are also covered.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1003

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (6) 30%
Project 10%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Network Structures and Measures (6 hours)
• Network Visualization (4 hours)
• Understanding Structure through User Attributes and Behaviour (4 hours)
• Propagation in Networks (5 hours)
• Location Based Social Interaction (4 hours)
• Security and Privacy (2 hours)
• Trust, Social Issues and Other Topics (2 hours)

60
 COMP 2300
Introduction to Multimedia Programming

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Visual Computing and
Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course contains an introduction to programming and computer science with an
emphasis on the development of multimedia applications. The course introduces the
fundamental principles of programming, including object-oriented and event-driven
programming. Students will develop an understanding of how to use and create classes and
methods and combine them with multimedia libraries to produce animations, handle input from
keyboard and mouse, and import sounds and videos to produce multimedia applications which
can be directly deployed on the Internet.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1003

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
In-class Evaluations 15%
Laboratory Work 25%
Midterm Exams (2) 30%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction: definitions of multimedia, digital data fundamentals, multimedia
authoring overview (2.5 hours)
• Flash and ActionScript: overview of Flash, ActionScript syntax overview (2.5 hours)
• Using objects: getting familiar with variables, using objects, calling methods, using
properties and events (2.5 hours)
• Data types: primitive data types, expressions, strings, string manipulation (2.5 hours)
• Conditionals: if statement, boolean expressions, switch-case statements, nesting
conditionals (2.5 hours)
• Loops: while, do and for loops (2.5 hours)
• Arrays and Functions: using arrays, defining functions (2.5 hours)
• Object References: understanding objects vs. object references, calling objects from
the library, defining the document class (2.5 hours)
• Implementing Object Classes: implementing methods, understanding constructors,
instance fields, and local variables (2.5 hours)

61
 • Events and Event Handling: ActionScript event basics, assessing objects through
event handlers, event listeners (3 hours)
• Style and HCI Guidelines for Multimedia: fonts, color, user feedback, splash screens,
loaders and publishing (2.5 hours)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 2300 and the former Computer
Science 1550.

62
 COMP 2500
Data Analysis with Scripting Languages

Students Interested
Data analysis is an essential part of many university courses and research projects.
Computer systems have become indispensable for many data analysis tasks. Students and
researchers can use scripting languages to perform many data analysis tasks more easily than
with traditional programming languages. This course is of interest to people who need to readily
perform data analysis. Scripting languages have been adopted by many research communities
to aid in their research.

Objectives of the Course

This course will provide practical examples of using a scripting language to perform data
analysis and data visualization. Common tasks of storing, searching, curve fitting, statistical
analysis, plotting and data computation for data sets will be covered. Possible scripting
languages include Perl, Python, and Ruby.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1510, COMP 1700, COMP 1710 or COMP 1000 or COMP 1001 (or equivalent)

Successor(s)
COMP 2718, COMP 3550*

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
Tests 30%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Control statements and expressions of the scripting language
• Subroutines and modules
• String processing
• Managing data files and sets
• Processing collections of data with lists and dictionaries
• Graphing (plotting) and data visualization
• Statistical data analysis
• Numeric computations with packages
• Finding and using application specific packages (e.g., astronomy, physics,
chemistry)

63
 COMP 2510
Programming in C/C++

Students Interested
C++ is an object-oriented relative of C and one of the most widespread computer
languages today. Especially, in the computer and software industry, it is one of the most sought-
after skills. Many of the more recent computer languages and advanced data processing
techniques require previous exposure to C/C++. This course is open to Computer Science
students and students from other disciplines.

Objectives of the Course

This course gives a comprehensive treatment of the C/C++ programming languages. It
is intended for students with some first programming experience. This course starts with a
discussion of fundamentals of C and C++, moves on to the object-oriented aspects of C++, and
introduces some advanced topics. It is an essential course for mastering the power of this rich
programming language.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1510 or COMP 1550 or COMP 1700 or COMP 1710 or COMP 1000 or
COMP 1001 or Engineering 1020 (or equivalent)

Successor(s)
COMP 2718

Representative Workload
Assignments (5-8) 20%
Labs (10) 10%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Overview of C (3 weeks)
- Fundamental data types and conversion
- Flow control and functions
- Pointers, compound types, and structures
- Preprocessing
- Essential libraries
- Memory models, separate compilation, storage duration, scope, linkage, and
namespaces

64
• Objects and classes (3 weeks)
- Class constructors and destructors
- Class scope
- This pointer
- Function and operator overloading
- Friends

• Inheritance (3 weeks)
- Access control
- Single and multiple inheritance
- Polymorphism
- Class type cast
- Static and dynamic binding
- Abstract based classes

• More topics (3 weeks)

- Runtime type identification
- The string class
- Exceptions
- Smart pointers
- Class templates
- Standard Template Library

Comments or Notes:
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 2510 or
Engineering 3891.

65
 COMP 2718
Development Tools, Work Flows and Concepts

Students Interested
This course will enable computer science majors and minors to improve their software
development productivity at the start of their program. Students who take the Computer Industry
Internship Option will be prepared for the tools and work flows in use by industry. Non
computer science majors can also benefit from this course since the majority of these tools and
work flows can also be used by non software developers to improve their data management and
data processing tasks.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers tools, work flows and concepts used in software development in a
concentrated introductory set of topics. The essential work flows (with their underlying
concepts) used to edit, build, test, combine with existing software and find existing software are
introduced. The tools covered include text editors, programming language translators, file
management tools, debuggers, scripting tools, source control tools, and building, testing and
deployment tools. The architecture and use of an Integrated Development Environment are
discussed.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2500 or COMP 2510 or COMP 2710

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5-8) 15%
Labs (8-10) 20%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Files, File Systems, File Types (1 hour)
• File Management Tools (2 hours)
• Text Processing Tools (2 hours)
• Shell Scripting (4 hours)
• Compiling Tools (1 hour)
• Building Tools (2 hours)
• Packaging and Deployment Tools (1 hour)
• Resources on the Internet (2 hours)
• Network Tools (3 hours)
• Installing, Configuring Software Libraries (2 hours)

66
 • Source Control Tools (2 hours)
• Debugging Tools (3 hours)
• Testing Frameworks (2 hours)
• Lint like Tools (2 hours)
• Work Flow Management Tools (2 hours)
• Integrated Development Environments (3 hours)
• Software Licenses and Intellectual Property (1 hour)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as scheduled
in the university timetable.
• It is recommended that Computer Science students take Computer Science 2718.

67
3.3 3000-Level Courses

COMP 3100 - Web Programming

COMP 3200 - Algorithmic Techniques for Smart Systems
COMP 3201 - Introduction to Nature-Inspired Computing
COMP 3202 - Introduction to Machine Learning
COMP 3300 - Interactive Technologies
COMP 3301 - Visual Computing and Applications
COMP 3401 - Introduction to Data Mining
COMP 3550 - Introduction to Bioinformatics
COMP 3700 - Industrial Experience
COMP 3710 - Vocational Languages
COMP 3718 - Programming in the Small
COMP 3719 - Theory of Computation and Algorithms
COMP 3731 - Introduction to Scientific Computing
COMP 3753 - Computational Aspects of Linear Programming

68
 COMP 3100
Web Programming

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students who want to design web applications.

Objectives of the Course

This course studies the Web information system from a programming perspective. It
teaches how Web data are transferred across the network, how to design interactive browser
content and how to provide dynamic pages from the server.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2006

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 30%
Midterm Exam 20%
Project 20%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Web information systems foundation (3 hours)
- HTTP
- Web servers
- Browsers and other clients
• Client side (12 hours)
- HTML5
- CSS3
- JavaScript
- Browser API
- Browser Development Tools
- Mobile web applications
• Server side (11 hours)
- CGI
- Python Server Frameworks (e.g., flask, ...)
• Application frameworks (4 hours)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for Computer Science 3100 and the former Computer
Science 3715.

69
 COMP 3200
Algorithmic Techniques for Smart Systems

Students Interested
This course is required for the Smart Systems stream and would be of interest to Visual
Computing and Gaming students.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers basic algorithmic techniques and data structures that are used to embed
basic intelligent behaviors, such as problem solving, reasoning and learning in software systems
and agents.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001 or the former COMP 2710, COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711, and
Statistics 1510 or Statistics 2550

Successor(s)
COMP 3202, COMP 4303

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 45%
Tests (2) 30%
Final Exam 25%

Representative Course Outline

• Background: AI and Agents (3 hours)
- AI definition and areas
- Agent definition, structure and types

• Search (10 hours)

- Exhaustive search
- Heuristic search
- Local search (e.g., hill-climbing)
- Constraint satisfaction
- Adversarial search
- Search under uncertainty

• Logical Reasoning (9 hours)

- Knowledge-based systems
- Reasoning
- Planning
- Fuzzy logic

70
 • Probabilistic Reasoning (8 hours)
- Quantifying uncertainty
- Bayesian networks
- Dynamic Bayesian networks

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 3200 and the former Computer
Science 4753.

71
 COMP 3201
Introduction to Nature-Inspired Computing

Students Interested
This course is required for the Smart Systems stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course provides an overview of popular nature-inspired computing methods.
Methods that are inspired by both biological and non-biological systems are considered. These
methods have been applied to solve problems in various areas of computing such as optimization,
machine learning, and robotics. Particular examples of nature-inspired computing methods
studied include cellular automata, neural networks, evolutionary computing, swarm intelligence,
artificial life, and complex networks. Contributions made in the field of nature-inspired
computing that have led to advances in the natural sciences are also discussed.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 30%
Midterm Exam 25%
In-class Participation 10%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to nature-inspired computing (1 hour)
- History
- Major tasks
- Natural paradigms

• Cellular automata (1 hour)

- Dynamical systems simulation
- Self-replication

• Neural Networks (8 hours)

- Background and history of artificial neural networks (ANNs)
- Learning algorithms based on ANNs
- Optimization with ANNs
- Selected applications of ANNs

72
 • Evolutionary Computing (8 hours)
- Background and history of evolutionary computation (EC)
- Different branches of EC: GA, GP, EA, EP, DE
- Selected applications of EC methods

• Swarm Intelligence (8 hours)

- Background and history of collective and swarm intelligence
- Examples of swarm intelligence in biology
- Mechanisms of swarm behaviour (e.g., recruitment, quorum sensing)
- Selected application of swarm methods

• Artificial Life (2 hours)

- Background and history of Artificial Life research
- Self-organizing systems
- Artificial Chemistry

• Complex networks and emergence (2 hours)

- Background and history of network science
- Random networks, small-world networks and networks in nature
- Artificial networks and their features
- Selected phenomena in network science

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 3201 and the former Computer
Science 4752.

73
 COMP 3202
Introduction to Machine Learning

Students Interested
This course is required for the Smart Systems stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course introduces concepts and algorithms in machine learning for regression and
classification tasks. The course gives the student the basic ideas and intuition behind model
selection and evaluation, and selected machine learning methods such as random forests, support
vector machines, and hidden Markov models.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3200; or COMP 2001 or the former COMP 2710, COMP 2002 or the former
COMP 2711, and Statistics 2550; and Mathematics 2050

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 30%
Midterm Exam 25%
In-class Participation 10%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to Machine Learning (3 hours)
- Definition and examples of machine learning tasks, e.g., classification
- Types of learning: supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement

• Linear methods for regression and classification (5 hours)

• Model Assessment and Selection (3 hours)

- Bias, variance, overfitting, and model complexity

• Measuring classifier performance (3 hours)

- Cross-validation
- Precision / Recall
- Area under ROC curve

• Supervised learning (6 hours)

- Nearest-neighbour
- Decision Trees

74
• Combining classifiers (6 hours)
- Boosting
- Random Forests

• Other approaches such as support vector machines, hidden Markov models, etc. (4
hours)

75
 COMP 3300
Interactive Technologies

Students Interested
This course is required for the Visual Computing and Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course provides exposure to traditional desktop, mobile and games contexts with
respect to interaction design theory and practice. The impact of context on design principles is
explored. An introduction to each programming context will be provided and a minimal set of
software development tools for each context will be introduced. Practical application of
interaction design principles will involve design and prototyping of desktop, mobile and games
applications.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001or the former COMP 2710

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Original Implementation Assignments (3) 60%
Tests and Design Problems (3) 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to Interaction Design
- Interaction Design goals, guidelines and principles (3 hours)
- Cognate areas of impact: cognitive psychology, graphic design, industrial design,
ergonomics, human-computer interaction, media studies, user-interface
design (3 hours)
- Design methodology (2 hours)
- Prototyping tools (1 hour)

• Desktop Context
- Desktop design constraints and objectives (1 hour)
- Introduction to a Desktop GUI builder (WindowBuilder/Eclipse) (3 hours)
- GUI component frameworks and systems (3 hours)

• Mobile Context
- Mobile device design constraints and objectives (1 hour)
- Introduction to a Mobile App development suite (Android Studio) (3 hours)
- Mobile App programming (6 hours)

76
• Games Context
- Games design space and objectives (1 hour)
- Introduction to a game design suite (Unity3D) (3 hours)

• Games programming (6 hours)

77
 COMP 3301
Visual Computing and Applications

Students Interested
This course is required for the Smart Systems Stream, and the Visual Computing and
Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course provides students with the fundamental knowledge and skills in the fields of
computer vision, computer graphics, and visualization. Visual perception is responsible for most
of our impressions about the world around us. This course introduces how computers are used
to both mimic the human visual system (e.g., recognize shapes) and to create visual content (e.g.,
synthesize images). Related techniques on image synthesis, processing and analysis are discussed
under a unified framework. How visual computing principles were used to create visual effects
in movies and commercials is also examined.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711, Mathematics 2000, and Mathematics 2050

Successor(s)
COMP 4301, COMP 4302

Representative Workload
Assignments (4) 40%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction (4 hours)
- Human perception; intensity & color; display hardware
• Image basics (4 hours)
- Imaging capture; image representation & sampling; 2D transformations; image
warping
• Raster graphics (4 hours)
- Line & circle drawing; line clipping; polygon filling
• Image processing (8 hours)
- Per-pixel operation; histogram; filtering; Fourier transformation
• Image analysis (6 hours)
- Edge detection; Hough transform; thresholding; segmentation; template matching
• Image synthesis (6 hours)
- Alpha compositing; matting; halftoning; feature-based warping; morphing

78
 COMP 3401
Introduction to Data Mining

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Smart Systems stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and techniques for data mining and
knowledge discovery. Students will develop an understanding of the essential data mining
technologies, and be able to design and evaluate methods for simple data mining applications.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711, COMP 2007 or the former COMP 3754, and
Statistics 2550

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 15%
Midterm Exam 25%
Project 10%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• Basic concepts for data mining (3 hours)
• Attributes (4 hours)
• Data pre-processing (3 hours)
• Mining frequent patterns (4 hours)
• Classification (9 hours)
• Clustering (6 hours)

79
 COMP 3550
Introduction to Bioinformatics

Students Interested
This course is designed as an interdisciplinary introductory course in bioinformatics for both
Computer Science and Biology students and as a bridge between both disciplines. The course
is intended to be a course for a mixed audience of students with different backgrounds (e.g.,
computer science and biology). The course will focus on the fundamental concepts, ideas and
related biological applications of existing bioinformatics tools. The purpose is to provide the
students with hands-on experience on the major computational approaches applied to a wide
variety of bioinformatics problems.
Biology students will appreciate the impact of these approaches for addressing
biological questions and will gain insight on the limitations and strengths of these approaches.
Computer Science students will appreciate the practical use of the concepts they have been
taught in other courses, but most importantly, the challenges posed by biological questions,
and the need for the robust algorithms that deal with the very large, noisy datasets typically
present in biology. Computer scientists and biologists will both recognize the large diversity
of questions addressed by bioinformatics applications. Many industry and research jobs now
require cross-disciplinary collaboration. With this course, students will start becoming aware
of the interdisciplinary nature of bioinformatics and appreciate the contribution of people
outside their field of study.

Objectives of the Course

Bioinformatics deals with the development and application of computational methods to
address biological problems. The course will focus on the fundamental concepts, ideas and
related biological applications of existing bioinformatics tools. This course will provide hands-on
experience in applying bioinformatics software tools and online databases to analyze
experimental biological data, and it will also introduce scripting language tools typically used to
automate some biological data analysis tasks.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2500 or COMP 2710 or COMP 2001, and one Biology course at the 1000-level
or above (excluding Biology 2040 and Biology 2041); or Biology 2060 or Biochemistry 2201
or the former 2101, and one Computer Science Course at the 1000-level or above (excluding
COMP 1400, COMP 1600 and COMP 2000); or permission of the course instructor

Successor(s)
COMP 4550*

Representative Workload
Assignments and Projects 25%
Lab work and Quizzes 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 30%

80
Representative Course Outline
• Introduction
S What is Bioinformatics?
S Why is Bioinformatics required?
S Importance of interdisciplinary collaboration

• Sequences
S Why compare sequences?
S Sequence similarity
S Where to look for information about a sequence
S Sequence alignment: Pairwise and multiple

• Genomics
S How are genomes sequenced?
S How are genomes annotated?
S Genomic variation
S Gene expression
• How is gene expression measured?
• Pre-processing the data: denoising and normalization
• Differential analysis
S Interpreting a list of genes
• Gene functional annotation - Gene Ontology (GO)
• Finding over-represented gene functions in gene lists
• Other source of annotations
S Gene function prediction

• Proteomics
S Protein Interaction Networks
S Protein Domains
S How are proteins measured and identified?

• Transcriptomics
S Motif finding
S Determining binding preferences
S Inferring regulatory networks

• Metabolomics
S Detection and identification of metabolites
S Human metabolome project

• Labs
Students will be expected to attend a weekly lab session, and to submit a lab report or
to answer a lab quiz at the end of each lab.

81
 * Script programming and using bioinformatics libraries (BioPerl)
* Sequences
S Using BLAST, BLAT
S Using alignment tools (e.g., ProbCons, M-Coffee)
* Working with sequenced genomes
S Ensembl, BioMart, UCSC Genome Browser
S Linking own data to a Genome browser
* Analysis of gene expression data using existing tools (e.g., Babelomics,
GeneXPress, Gene Pattern)
* Annotating a list of genes with functional annotation
* Using over-representation or enrichment analysis tools (e.g., GSEA, DAVID,
GenMAPP, GOMiner)
* Using gene function prediction esystems (e.g., GeneMANIA, FuncBase, NBrowse,
STRING, FunCoup)
* Using motif finding tools in a set of sequences (e.g., MEME, AlignACE)
* Using regulatory networks prediction systems (e.g., COALESCE, Allegro)

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as scheduled
in the university timetable.
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 3550 or Biology 3951.

82
 COMP 3700
Industrial Experience

Students Interested
Students who are admitted to the Co-operative Internship in Computer Science (CICS)
are required to register for this non-credit course every semester during their internship.

Objectives of the Course

To provide an opportunity for qualified students to obtain rewarding placements that help
them develop practical skills in a real work setting before graduation. The CICS is available to
computer science majors who will typically apply between their third and fourth year of studies.

Prerequisite(s)
Admission to the Co-operative Internship in Computer Science

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
• Within two weeks of starting the internship, students are required to submit a list of their
internship objectives to Co-operative Education. They are also required to submit a report
to Co-operative Education due the last day of classes of each semester in which they are
working. A progress report is required in semesters where the internship is continuing
into the next semester. The progress report need only discuss the activities in that
particular semester. A final report is required in the student’s final internship semester.
The final report must discuss the entire internship. Both reports will include a description
of the student’s internship projects and activities as well as the student’s internship
objectives and accomplishments. A completed Employer Evaluation Form should be
submitted to Co-operative Education at the end of each semester.

Representative Course Outline

Not applicable

Comments or Notes
• Students must register for the course Computer Science 3700 every semester during their
internship. Computer Science 3700 is a non-credit course open only to students who have
been accepted into the internship program.
• During the internship, the employer and intern will complete student performance
evaluations every four months and will submit them to Co-operative Education. The
final assessment of total work performed is the responsibility of Co-operative Education,
and will be based upon both input from the employer and the intern’s final internship
report.

83
• The Internship evaluation shall consist of two components:

1. On-the-job Student Performance: Job performance shall be assessed by Co-

operative Education in consultation with the Department using information
gathered during the internship and input from the employer. Evaluation of the on-
the-job student performance will result in one of the following classifications:
PASS WITH DISTINCTION, PASS, FAIL.

2. The Final Internship Report: Evaluation of the final internship report will result in
one of the following classifications: PASS WITH DISTINCTION, PASS, FAIL.

The evaluation of the on-the-job student performance and the final internship report
are recorded separately on the transcript.

Overall evaluation of the internship will result in one of the following final grades
being awarded:

PASS WITH DISTINCTION: indicates outstanding performance in both the final

internship report and the on-the-job student performance. PASS WITH
DISTINCTION has been awarded to each of the final internship report and the on-the-
job student performance.
PASS: indicates that performance meets expectations in both the final internship
report and on-the-job student performance. The student meets the requirements of a
passing mark in the final internship report and on-the-job student performance.
FAIL: indicates failing performance in either the final internship report or on-the-job
student performance or both.

• The following will be noted in the transcript of the intern:

S Requirements for the Computer Industry Internship Option have been completed.
Internship Duration: - months.
S A grade of NC (No Credit) for Computer Science 3700 will be awarded in all
semesters of the internship option prior to the final semester.

• In case a student is enrolled in both the Honours program and the CICS, the requirements
of both must be met. Upon approval from the honours project supervisor, within the
department, the employer and the head of the Department of Computer Science, an
internship project may be submitted as a component of an honours project. These
arrangements must be made within the first semester of the internship placement.

• For more information, see Section 2.4.7 of this handbook.

COMP 3710
Vocational Languages

84
Students Interested
Students and data processing professionals, with a good knowledge in at least one modern
high-level programming language, who intend to learn other languages currently in vogue.

Objectives of the Course

This course is intended to provide students with a working knowledge of a variety of high-
level programming languages. When given a wide range of languages with which to solve a
particular problem, the student will be able to choose the most appropriate language for
implementing the solution. Emphasis will be on the general semantic characteristics and the
underlying decisions implicit in the design and implementation of these languages.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
In-class Exams 30%
Final Exam 50%

Representative Course Outline

• A selection of languages from:
S Perl - A scripting language
S Python - A scripting language
S Javascript - A browser scripting language

85
 COMP 3718
Programming in the Small

Students Interested
This course is for students interested in the study of tools and techniques used in the
construction of small software systems.

Objectives of the Course

The goal of this course is to demonstrate the tools and techniques used in the construction
of small software systems. In software engineering, software development is characterized by
programming in the large or programming in the small. Programming in the large deals with
requirement analysis, system architecture design, module specification, module development,
testing and maintenance - in other words, the entire software life cycle. Programming in the small
deals with how a person creates the set of software components necessary to implement a module.
Thus, programming in the small is part of the larger software development process.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
Software Project 25%
In-class Exam 20%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Review/Introduction of the Java programming language
S Data and control structures
S Abstraction features and styles
S Pointers and memory management
S Common mistakes
S Classes

• An example of the complete system

S The requirements
S Design decomposition techniques and strategies
S The interface specification of submodules
S The use of software libraries
S The actual source code
S The supporting tool and files

86
 S Testing

• Programming in the small

S Parnas' information hiding
S Examples of decomposition according to Parnas
S ADT and modules
S Testing and automatic testing

• Software development tools

S Source control systems: svn, git, hg, etc.
S Integrated Development Environments: eclipse, netbeans, etc.
S Testing frameworks: junit

• The where, when and why of software libraries

• The design of utility software components

S Abstract data types
S Generic programming
S Libraries

• Strategies to the reading and modification of large programs

• Performance issues (time and memory)

87
 COMP 3719
Theory of Computation and Algorithms

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors who are following the old
regulations (prior to 2016 - 2017 academic year).

Objectives of the Course

To study algorithm design relative to advanced data structures, to introduce non-standard
(parallel/distributed) and abstract machine models and to introduce techniques for deriving
intractability results (polynomial-time and general).

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711; and Mathematics 2320 or COMP 1002

Successor(s)
COMP 4711*, COMP 4712*, COMP 4740, COMP 4741, COMP 4742, COMP 4743,
COMP 4750*, COMP 4756, COMP 4762

Representative Workload
Assignments 25%
Midterm Exam 40%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Review of basic mathematical concepts and notation, alphabets, strings, languages,
problems, asymptotic notation, complexity classes and their complements (3 hours)

• Efficient computations--the class P (12 hours)

- The String Matching Problem; basic, finite state automata based and Knuth-Morris-
Pratt algorithms
- The String Recognition Problem; context--free languages and pushdown automata,
dynamic programming, parsing

• The classes EXPTIME and NP (8 hours)

- The Satisfiability Problem, deterministic and nondeterministic Turing machines
- Reducibility, NP-completeness and Cook’s Theorem
- The Tautology Problem, theorem proving, the class co-NP

88
 • Beyond computability (10 hours)
- The Church-Turing Thesis
- The Halting Problem, decidable and undecidable problems
- Diagonalization proofs, undecidability of the Halting Problem
- Reducibility, other undecidable problems

• Distributed algorithms, grid computing (3 hours)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 3719 and the former Computer
Science 3711.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 3719 and the former Computer
Science 3740.

89
 COMP 3731
Introduction to Scientific Computing

Students Interested
This course is of interest to students who wish to perform numerical computations in such
areas as engineering, physics, statistics, modelling, graphics or operations research, and also to
those students who wish to study the effectiveness of these solutions in a given computing
environment.

Objectives of the Course

The development of algorithms for the numerical solution of mathematical problems, and
the study of the numerical stability of these algorithms are the main objectives of this course. The
efficiency of these algorithms with respect to speed and storage requirements is considered as
well. Emphasis is also placed on the study of the sensitivity of selected problems to perturbations
in the data. There is also a brief introduction to the development of numerical algorithms that take
advantage of advanced computer architectures, such as pipeline processors, array processors and
parallel processors.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001 or the former COMP 2710, Mathematics 2000 and Mathematics 2050

Successor(s)
COMP 4734, Special Topics in Numerical Computations

Representative Workload

Assignments 50%
In-class Exams 20%
Final Exam 30%

There will be about nine assignments given throughout the semester. Programming
assignments are chosen to illustrate topics discussed in the lecture material. They emphasize the
numerical dangers that may appear because of the finite precision of computers. Assignments can
be written in any programming language unless specified otherwise. Nonprogramming problems
are also assigned.

Representative Course Outline

• Errors in computations, computer arithmetic, stability of algorithms and conditioning
of problems
• Principles of pipelining and parallel processing
• Evaluation of functions, computation of infinite alternating series
• Nonlinear equations
• Methods for systems of linear equations

90
 • Norms, condition numbers
• Polynomial interpolation, curve fitting, least squares problem, cubic spline
• Numerical integration

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both COMP 3731 and Mathematics 3132.

91
 COMP 3753
Computational Aspects of Linear Programming

Students Interested
Those who wish to have an introduction to linear optimization problems that arise in many
areas such as operations research.

Objectives of the Course

To analyze the Linear Programming (linear optimization) Problem, to investigate the
recent developments in the theory necessary to solve this problem, to design efficient algorithms
for its solution and to analyze the complexity of these algorithms and their numerical efficiency.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 1001 or the former COMP 2710 and Mathematics 2050

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Numerical Computations

Representative Workload
Assignments 50%
In-class Exams 20%
Final Exam 30%

Programming assignments emphasize the numerical dangers that may appear because of
the finite precision of computers. Some of the programming will use MATLAB.

Representative Course Outline

• Brief review of necessary linear algebra
• Introduction to the Linear Programming Problem (LPP)
• The simplex algorithm
• Sparse matrix techniques for the LPP problem
• Duality and postoptimality analysis
• Extensions to the simplex algorithm
• A brief introduction to interior algorithms for the LPP

92
3.4 4000-Level Courses

COMP 4300 - Introduction to Game Programming

COMP 4301 - Computer Vision
COMP 4302 - 3D Computer Graphics
COMP 4303 - Artificial Intelligence in Computer Games
COMP 4304 - Data Visualization
COMP 4550 - Bioinformatics: Biological Data Analysis
COMP 4711 - Structure of Programming Languages
COMP 4712 - Compiler Construction
COMP 4715 and COMP 4717 - Special Topics in Programming Languages
COMP 4718 - Survey of Software Engineering
COMP 4721 - Operating Systems
COMP 4723 - Introduction to Microprocessors
COMP 4726 to 4729 - Special Topics in Computer Systems
COMP 4734 - Matrix Computations and Applications
COMP 4736 to 4739 - Special Topics in Numerical Computations
COMP 4740 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms
COMP 4741 - Formal Languages and Computability
COMP 4742 - Computational Complexity
COMP 4743 - Graph Algorithms and Combinatorial Optimization
COMP 4745 to 4749 (excluding 4748) - Special Topics in Theoretical Aspects
COMP 4750 - Introduction to Natural Language Processing
COMP 4754 - Database Systems
COMP 4756 - Image Processing
COMP 4759 - Computer Networks
COMP 4762 - Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology
COMP 4766 - Introduction to Autonomous Robotics
COMP 4767 - Information Visualization and Applications
COMP 4768 - Software Development for Mobile Devices
COMP 4770 - Team Project
COMP 4780 - Honours Project
COMP 4800 to 4825 - Special Topics

93
 COMP 4300
Introduction to Game Programming

Students Interested
This course is required for the Visual Computing and Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This is an introductory course for students interested in learning the fundamentals of
game programming. Topics include vector math for games, fundamentals of rendering,
introduction to animation and artificial intelligence, collision detection, game physics and
user-interfaces. Students are required to write a fully functional game during the course.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001 or the former COMP 2710, Mathematics 2050, and six credit hours in
Computer Science courses at the 3000-level or above (COMP 3301 and COMP 3731 are
recommended)

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Laboratory Work (10) 15%
In-class Evaluations (every lecture) 15%
Midterm Exams (2) 30%
Final Exam 20%
Final Game Project 20%

Representative Course Outline

• Course Introduction, Game Programming Basics (3 hours)
• Vector Math and Games (3 hours)
• Rendering (3 hours)
• Quaternions and Input/Sound (3 hours)
• Artificial Intelligence (3 hours)
• Collision Detection and Game Physics (3 hours)
• Camera Systems (3 hours)
• User Interface Systems (3 hours)
• Event-Based Systems and Scripting Languages (3 hours)
• Animation and Assorted Gameplay (3 hours)
• Basic Networking (3 hours)

94
 COMP 4301
Computer Vision

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Smart Systems stream or the
Visual Computing and Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course studies how to develop methods that enable a machine to “understand” or
analyze images. The course introduces the fundamental problems in computer vision and the
state-of-the-art approaches that address them. Topics include feature detection and matching,
geometric and multi-view vision, structure from X, segmentation, object tracking and visual
recognition.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3301 or Engineering 7854 or permission of the instructor

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignment(s) (2) 20%
Midterm Exam 20%
Project 30%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Unit 1: Grouping and fitting (4 hours)
- K-means, Hough transform, RANSAC

• Unit 2: Feature detection and matching (4 hours)

- Interest point detection (corners/blobs), SIFT, HOG

• Unit 3: Geometric and multi-view vision (4 hours)

- Geometric transformation, Camera model and camera calibration, Image stitching

• Unit 4: Feature based alignment (4 hours)

- 2D and 3D feature based alignment, Pose estimation

95
 • Unit 5: Structure from X (4 hours)
- Epipolar geometry, Stereo vision, Essential and fundamental matrix, Structure from
motion

• Unit 6: Segmentation and tracking (4 hours)

- Foreground segmentation in video, Optical flow, Tracking

• Unit 7: Recognition (4 hours)

- Introduction to recognition, Object detect and recognition (face detection, pedestrian
recognition), General category recognition (bags of features)

Comments or Notes
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 4301 and Engineering 8814.

96
 COMP 4302
3D Computer Graphics

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Visual Computing and Games
stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course introduces students to state-of-the-art concepts and developments in the field
of 3D computer graphics. The underlying algorithms, as well as the basic techniques to develop
interactive 3D graphics systems including games and simulators, are presented. Topics of the
course include 3D geometrical transformations, 3D projections, 3D modeling and rendering, 3D
graphics languages and systems. Advanced photorealistic rendering and image-based rendering
techniques may also be covered.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3301

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Midterm Exam 25%
Assignments (3-4) 45%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to 3D Graphics (1 hour)
• Graphics Pipelines (1 hour)
- Fixed & programmable pipelines
• Graphic APIs (1-4 hours)
• Processing input for 3D graphics systems (1 hour)
• Geometrical Transformation (4 hours)
- Math Preliminary, 3D Transformations, 3D Projections, 3D Viewing
• 3D Modeling (3-6 hours)
- Geometric Primitives, Defining 3D Geometry, Parametric Curve, Parametric
Surface,
- Solid Modeling, Point Set Surface
• Shading (3 hours)
• 3D Rendering (3-6 hours)
- Visibility Determination, Rasterization and Rendering Buffers, Illumination Model,
- Polygon Shading, Texture Mapping, Anti-Aliasing
• Photorealistic Rendering (1-4 hours)

97
 - Global Illumination, Ray Casting, Ray Tracing, Radiosity Rendering, Photon
Mapping

Comments and Notes

• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 4302 and the former Computer
Science 4751.

98
 COMP 4303
Artificial Intelligence in Computer Games

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Smart Systems stream or the
Visual Computing and Games stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course provides an introduction to specific state-of-the-art algorithmic techniques
and data structures that are used to efficiently implement humanlike abilities (e.g., awareness,
memory, rational decision-making (under uncertainty), movement, co-operation in groups) in
computer game agents.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3200

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (4) 40%
Tests (2) 30%
Course Project 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Background: Computer Games (3 hours) [Part 1]
• Basic Decision-Making (12 hours) [Part II]
- Scripting; Finite-state Automata; Rule-based systems; Utility systems
• Movement (6 hours) [Part III]
• Advanced Decision-Making (6 hours) [Part IV]
- Strategy and tactics; group activities
• Awareness and Memory (6 hours) [Part V]
• Learning from Experience (3 hours)

The listed chapters and parts refer to the textbook below. As this is an edited volume, only
certain chapters in each part will be covered. The above will, where appropriate, be augmented
with readings covering relevant material not treated in the textbook, e.g., group activities, neural
network agent architectures, reinforcement learning.

Text
Rabin, S. (Ed.) (2014) Game AI Pro: Collected Wisdom of Game AI Professionals. CRC Press.
Textbook URL: http://www.gameaipro.com/

99
 COMP 4304
Data Visualization

Students Interested
This course would be of interest to students completing the Visual Computing and Games
stream.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers interactive representation of data using a modern programming library.
Topics include an introduction to the software platform and the principles for data selection,
analysis, design and creation of dynamic visualizations. Students produce interactive web-based
objects, addressing problems in the presentation and understanding of large data collections. The
techniques discussed are applicable to different sources and types of data.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2001 or the former COMP 2710, and COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (4) 40%
Project 30%
Term Test(s) (1 or 2) 15%
Final Exam 15%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to visual design
- Visual representations of data (3 hours)
- Human visual perception (2 hours)
- Visual encoding and representation (4 hours)
- Evaluation techniques (2 hours)
• Software techniques and tools
- Introduction to a data visualization toolkit (D3.js) (6 hours)
- Interaction techniques and extensions (3 hours)
• Big Data Visualization
- Types of data / multidimensional data (2 hours)
- Finding relationships in data (3 hours)
- Data analysis objectives (1 hour)
- Data selection and filtering (2 hours)
- Interaction with data sets (4 hours)

Comments and Notes

• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 4304 and the former Computer
Science 4767.

100
 COMP 4550
Bioinformatics: Biological Data Analysis

Students Interested
The course is designed as an interdisciplinary advanced course for both Computer
Science and Biology students in bioinformatics, and as a bridge between both disciplines.
This is an advanced course to provide students with the basis to perform their own
analysis of high-throughput data using R and Bioconductor. Students, who succeed in this
course, should be comfortable programming in R and be able to use available Bioconductor
packages to analyse a variety of biological data such as expression data, high-throughput cell-
based assay data and mass spectrometry protein data, and to use a variety of approaches
available within the R environment, such as clustering, graphs, classification approaches, such
as random forests and support vector machines, and enrichment analysis methods.
In the introductory Bioinformatics course (Computer Science 3550), students should (1)
understand the basis of bioinformatics methods, for example, how multiple sequences aligners
actually construct the alignments, what steps are involved in the analysis of gene expression,
what multiple testing correction is and how it is done; (2) achieve basic Perl programming skills;
and (3) use online databases and computational tools. On the other hand, in this advanced
course, although some topics such as gene expression, enrichment analysis and proteomics are
also covered, the students will be learning how to do the analysis on their own, that is, without
relying on the existence of a graphical and friendly computer program that will do the required
analysis by choosing the appropriate parameters and clicking on some buttons.

Objectives of the Course

This course provides students with the basis to analyse a variety of biological data
within an integrated programming environment for data manipulation, calculation and graphical
display. Students will learn to extract meaningful information from data generated by high-
throughput experimentation. The course will introduce one such integrated programming
environment and will explore the computational and statistical foundations of the most
commonly used biological data analysis procedures.

Prerequisite(s)
Biology 3951 or COMP 3550, and Statistics 2550 (or equivalent), or permission of the
course instructor.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments and Projects 25%
Lab work and Quizzes 20%
Midterm Exams 30%
Final Exam 25%

101
Representative Course Outline
• Introduction to R and Bioconductor
• Exploratory data analysis and hypothesis testing
• Gene Expression data analysis
• Mass Spectrometry Protein data analysis
• Clustering and visualization
• Machine learning: concepts and packages
S Feature selection
S Cross-validation
S Multiclass problems
S Ensemble methods
S Bayesian methods
• Graphs and Networks
S Protein interactions
S Pathways
S Co-expression graphs
• Biological Annotation
• Gene set enrichment analysis

• Labs
Students will perform hands on analysis of experimental biological data using mainly R
and Bioconductor. Additional software that may be used includes Cytoscape.
S R programming exercises
S Exploratory data analysis: graphics/plots generation
S Processing expression data
S Processing proteomics data
S Clustering data and cluster visualization
S Data classification using supervised machine language
S Using graphs for data visualization
S Annotating data
S Performing enrichment analysis
S Introduction to Cytoscape

Comments or Notes
• In addition to the weekly lecture component, there is a structured laboratory as scheduled
in the university timetable.
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 4550 or Biology 4606.

102
 COMP 4711
Structure of Programming Languages

Students Interested
Those who wish to pursue the study of design aspects of programming languages.

Objectives of the Course

To develop an understanding of the organization of programming languages and the
runtime behaviour of programs and to introduce basic concepts of formal description of
programming languages.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719, and COMP 2003 or the former COMP 3724

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Programming Languages

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
In-class Exams 40%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Formal specification of syntax
• Data, domains and domain constructors
• Storage and assignments
• Control structures, selection and iteration
• Binding, environment and scope
• Procedures and parameters
• Sequencers and continuations
• Concurrency
• Types and type checking, type constructors
• Introduction to denotational semantics

103
 COMP 4712
Compiler Construction

Students Interested
Those who are interested in theoretical foundations of compiler construction.

Objectives of the Course

To provide a theoretical basis for practical approaches to compiler construction. Primary
emphasis is upon popular methods of syntax analysis and code generation. Some background
in formal languages and automata theory is required.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719, and COMP 2003 or the former COMP 3724

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Programming Languages

Representative Workload
Assignments and Projects 20%
In-class Exams 40%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Formal languages and their grammars, Chomsky hierarchy, context-free languages,
derivation trees, leftmost and rightmost derivations, ambiguity, grammar
transformations, normal forms
• Definition of programming languages, BNF and EBNF, syntax and semantics, syntax-
driven semantics, lexical, syntax and semantics analysis
• Lexical analysis, finite automata and regular expressions, construction of scanners, lex
• Bottom-up parsing, general and deterministic, LR(k) grammars and parsers, LR, SLR,
LALR parsers, code generation for bottom-up parsers, yacc
• Top-down parsing, general and deterministic, LL(k) grammars and parsers, action
symbols and code generation for top-down parsing, recursive descent parsing
• Attribute grammars, inherited and synthesized attributes, attribute evaluation schemes

104
 COMP 4715 and COMP 4717
Special Topics in Programming Languages

Students Interested
Those who want a more in-depth study in the area of programming languages.

Objectives of the Course

To give students exposure to current and topical information in the area of programming
languages.

Prerequisite(s)
Special topics courses are not offered on a regular basis, but whenever departmental
resources permit. For this reason the prerequisites can vary each time the courses are offered.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Variable

Representative Course Outline

Variable

Comments or Notes
• All relevant information on a special topics course is posted on the Computer Science
website and the bulletin board outside the Computer Science General Office several
weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the course is being offered.

105
 COMP 4718
Survey of Software Engineering

Students Interested
This course is of interest to those students wanting exposure to the design and
development of a large-scale software system.

Objectives of the Course

This course introduces methods and tools for developing, managing and maintaining
large-scale software systems and provides students with practical experience in the development
of a software prototype that goes through the life cycle of large-scale software development.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2005 or the former COMP 3716

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments 35%
Project Report 15%
Tests 20%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Software products and development models
• Project management and cost estimation
• Software requirement engineering (system requirements, software requirements,
definition, specification, validation)
• Software prototyping
• Formal specification
• Software design methodologies (object-oriented vs. function-oriented design, user
interface design, real-time systems)
• Software validation (program verification and validation, testing, techniques)
• Programming techniques and environments (reliability and reuse CASE)
• Software maintenance, configuration management, software re-engineering

Project Outline
• Use the concepts and techniques of software engineering to develop a software prototype
of your own interests (recommended: a potential commercial system).
• Hand in a report of the project. In the report, you need to use your software prototype to
show your understanding and practice of software development. Your report must cover
the specified stage(s) of the software development life-cycle. As a guideline for you to

106
schedule the project, the report will be broken down into four stages that will be
specified respectively in assignments. The report will be marked according to its
readability and your discussions on:
S What should be done?
S What methods or techniques are available?
S What did you do and how did you do it?
S What you did not do and why?
S (optional) What feedback did you get from the succeeding steps and what
modifications did you make?

107
 COMP 4721
Operating Systems

Students Interested
This course is of interest to those who want to learn about the informal structures of
operating systems in batch processing, multi-programming, multi-processing and time-sharing
environments.

Objectives of the Course

The main objectives of the course are to learn how an operating system interfaces the
hardware and software resources with the user's environment, to learn the compositions and
connections of multilevel operating systems and to design substantial parts of an operating
system.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2004 or the former COMP 3725

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Computer Systems, recommended prerequisite for COMP 4726

Representative Workload
Assignments (up to 6) 25%
In-class Exams 35%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction and overview
• History of operating systems
• Operating system structures
• Process management: process concept, concurrent processes, CPU scheduling,
scheduling algorithms
• Process co-ordination: critical section, process synchronization, semaphores, monitors,
critical regions, process communication
• Deadlocks: deadlock prevention, avoidance, detection and recovery
• Memory hierarchy: cache memory, associative memory
• Memory management: swapping, fixed and variable partitions, relocation, paging and
segmentation (external and internal fragmentation)
• Virtual memory: page replacement algorithms, thrashing
• Secondary storage management
• File management: file-system organization, file operations, access methods,
directory-structure organization
• Protection: access matrix, security, encryption
• Elements of distributed operating systems
• Selected case studies, e.g., UNIX

Comments or Notes
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 4721 or Engineering 8894.

108
 COMP 4723
Introduction to Microprocessors

Students Interested
This course will be of interest to students who want to gain knowledge of embedded
systems with microcontrollers.

Objectives of the Course

This course aims to give students an introduction to the architecture of microcontrollers.
Students design and implement simple interface and control functions using C and assembly
language. Basic electric circuit theory and electronics for the interfacing of microcontrollers
with sensors and actuators will be covered.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2003 or the former COMP 3724

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Computer Systems

Representative Workload
Labs 15%
Midterm Exam 15%
Project (including proposal, presentation and documentation) 40%
Final Exam 30%

The project includes an initial presentation of the project proposal, with a brief write-up,
a final project presentation and a project write-up.

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to C
• Basic circuits
• Basic architecture of the ATMEL processors
• Assembly language programming
• On-chip components
• Serial peripherals
• Analog/digital control
• Electronics
• Applications

Comments or Notes
• Enrollment is limited depending on laboratory resources.
• Laboratory: Three hours per week for the first six or seven weeks, after which the
laboratory time will be devoted to project development.

109
 COMP 4726-4729
Special Topics in Computer Systems

Students Interested
Those who want a more in-depth study of the area of computer systems.

Objectives of the Course

To give students exposure to current and topical information in the area of computer
systems.

Prerequisite(s)
Special topics courses are not offered on a regular basis, but whenever departmental
resources permit. For this reason the prerequisites can vary each time the courses are offered.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Variable

Representative Course Outline

Variable

Comments or Notes
• All relevant information on a special topics course is posted on the Computer Science
website and the bulletin board outside the Computer Science General Office several
weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the course is being offered.

110
 COMP 4734
Matrix Computations and Applications

Students Interested
Students in any discipline who are dealing with computer solutions of numerical linear
algebra problems. Matrix computations may be found useful in disciplines such as engineering,
statistics, physics, optimization, operations research, computational chemistry and signal
processing.

Objectives of the Course

An introduction to the techniques of numerical linear algebra. Emphasis is placed upon
developing the most recent and reliable algorithms. The stability of these algorithms as well as
the sensitivity of the problems they solve will also be studied.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3731

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Numerical Computations

Representative Workload
Assignments 50%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%

There will be about nine assignments given throughout the semester. Programming
assignments are chosen to illustrate topics discussed in the lecture material and can be written
in any programming language unless otherwise specified. Nonprogramming problems are also
assigned.

Representative Course Outline

• An introduction to necessary topics of linear algebra
• Systems of linear equations; scaling; iterative refinement; estimating the condition
number of a matrix
• Introduction to pipelining and parallel matrix computations
• The linear least squares problem
• The symmetric and unsymmetric eigenproblems
• The singular value problem of a matrix

111
 COMP 4736-4739
Special Topics in Numerical Computations

Students Interested
Those who want a more in-depth study in the area of numerical computations.

Objectives of the Course

To give students exposure to current and topical information in the area of numerical
computations.

Prerequisite(s)
Special topics courses are not offered on a regular basis, but whenever departmental
resources permit. For this reason the prerequisites can vary each time the courses are offered.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Variable

Representative Course Outline

Variable

Comments or Notes
• All relevant information on a special topics course is posted on the Computer Science
website and the bulletin board outside the Computer Science General Office several
weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the course is being offered.

112
 COMP 4740
Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Students Interested
This course is of interest to students wishing to formalize algorithmic problem solving
techniques.

Objectives of the Course

To give students an overview of techniques for the design of efficient optimal-solution
and heuristic algorithmic solutions.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 40%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Optimal-Solution Algorithm Design Techniques - Solution Tree Search (Backtracking/
Branch and Bound), Divide and Conquer, Dynamic Programming, Greedy Algorithms
• Heuristic Algorithm Design Techniques - Solution Spaces and Landscapes, Local
Search, Simulated Annealing, Genetic Algorithms
• Advanced Data Structures - Set Maintenance and Search (B-Trees, Red-Black Trees,
Binomial Heaps), String Processing (Keyword Trees, Suffix Trees), Disjoint Sets,
Augmenting Data Structures

113
 COMP 4741
Formal Languages and Computability
Students Interested
This course is of interest to those students seeking a deeper understanding of classical
formal language theory and computability.

Objectives of the Course

This course is an in-depth discussion of classical models of computation, their
computational power and their use in the classification of problems into classes. In addition, the
correspondence between the models of computation and the different types of grammars is
established.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Theoretical Aspects

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 40%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Review of mathematical preliminaries: sets, binary relations, equivalence relations,
partial orders, functions, finite and infinite sets, countable and non-countable sets,
alphabet strings, string operations, languages, operations on languages
• Finite state automata, minimization, nondeterminism, closure properties of regular
languages, regular expressions, pumping lemma
• Pushdown automata, context-free languages and grammars, equivalence, ambiguity,
pumping lemma, parsing
• Turing machines, nondeterminism, multiple tapes, recursive and recursively enumerable
languages
• The Chomsky hierarchy
• Decidability of problems concerning regular languages, context free languages and
general languages
• Undecidability of the Halting Problem
• Reducibility and its application in proving undecidable and decidable languages
• The Post correspondence problem
• Oracle reductions and the arithmetic hierarchy
• The Recursion Theorem and its applications

Comments or Notes
• Students can receive credit for only one of Computer Science 4741 or the former
Computer Science 3740.

114
 COMP 4742
Computational Complexity

Students Interested
This course is of interest to students wishing to deepen their understanding of the nature
of problem complexity.

Objectives of the Course

This course is an in-depth look at the theory of algorithms and algorithm complexity
from a structural point of view. The emphasis will be placed on complexity classes containing
problems of practical relevance such as P, NP and the parallel class of problems NC.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments 40%
In-class Exams 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Review of the basic formal models of computation and complexity
S Rrandom access machines
S Turing machines
S Oracle machines
S Alternating Turing machines
S Combinational circuits model
S Uniform and nonuniform complexity measures
S Resource bounded computations

• Complexity classes
S Resource bounded reducibility (Turing-Cook, polynomial time, logarithmic space)
S The classes NP, P, NC, PSPACE, LOGSPACE and their components
S Problems complete and hard for a complexity class
S Relationships between complexity classes

• The polynomial time hierarchy

• Randomized computations
S Randomized algorithms
S Randomized complexity classes
S Randomized sources

115
 COMP 4743
Graph Algorithms and Combinatorial Optimization

Students Interested
This course is of interest to students wanting to deepen their understanding of graph and
network optimization problems.

Objectives of the Course

To give students efficient algorithms for solving some graph and network optimization
problems and to provide them with techniques to show the apparent intractability of others.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 40%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Representative Course Outline

• Graph theory fundamentals
• Algorithms on graphs: graph connectivity and traversals, matching, shortest path,
isomorphism, testing membership on families of graphs: bipartite, planar, of bounded
tree-width
• Some NP-complete and hard problems on graphs, colourability, independent sets, vertex
cover, clique
• Approximation algorithms for some graph theoretic problems
• Resource scheduling problems
• Greedy algorithms and scheduling problems, dynamic programming algorithm for
scheduling of weighted intervals
• The maximum flow problem and the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm, maximum flow and
minimum cuts, the preflow-push maximum-flow algorithm
• Applications of network flow

116
 COMP 4745-4749 (excluding COMP 4748)
Special Topics in Theoretical Aspects

Students Interested
Those who want a more in-depth study in the area of theoretical computing.

Objectives of the Course

To give students exposure to current and topical information in the area of theoretical
computing.

Prerequisite(s)
Special topics courses are not offered on a regular basis, but whenever departmental
resources permit. For this reason the prerequisites can vary each time the courses are offered.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Variable

Representative Course Outline

Variable

Comments or Notes
• All relevant information on a special topics course is posted on the Computer Science
website and the bulletin board outside the Computer Science General Office several
weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the course is being offered.

117
 COMP 4750
Introduction to Natural Language Processing

Students Interested
The ever-increasing number of people communicating with computer applications (either
via stand-alone devices or over the internet) has led to a corresponding ever-increasing demand
that this communication be carried out via natural human languages, either as written text or
speech. In this course, an introduction will be given to Natural Language Processing (NLP),
including an integrated systematic examination of the full range of rule-based and statistical
techniques used in NLP.

Objectives of the Course

This course covers tasks involving human languages, such as speech recognition, text
understanding, and keyword-based information retrieval which underlie many modern
computing applications and their interfaces. To be truly useful, such natural language
processing must be both efficient and robust. This course will give an introduction to the
algorithms and data structures used to solve key NLP tasks, including utterance understanding
and generation and language acquisition, in both of the major algorithmic paradigms used today
(rule-based and statistical). The emphasis will be primarily on text-based processing though
speech-based processing will be addressed where possible.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719 and Statistics 1510

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments 20%
In-Class Exams (2) 40%
In-Class Presentation(s) 10%
Course Project 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Overview of Natural Language Processing (1 week)
• Background: Linguistics and Language Processing (overview of classical linguistics;
representations of natural language utterances, grammars, and lexicons;
implementation of processes on natural language representations) (3 weeks)
• Utterance comprehension (2 ½ weeks)
• Utterance production (1 week)
• Language acquisition (1 week)
• Special applications, e.g., language-language translation, question answering, text
mining (1 ½ weeks)
• Student presentations (2 weeks)
COMP 4754

118
 Database Systems

Students Interested
This course will be of interest to those who wish to have an introduction to the problems
involved in dealing with large amounts of data.

Objectives of the Course

To introduce students to database processing, database management systems and
database design considerations. Additional topics covered include the theory and methodologies
essential for the relational database design, implementation, manipulation, optimization and
management.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2004 or the former COMP 3725, and COMP 2007 or the former COMP 3754

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Database Systems

Representative Workload
Assignments and Project 40%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction to databases and database management systems
• Entity relationship model
• Database design
• Requirement analysis
• Conceptual modelling
• Implementation design
• Physical design
• Modelling of data for various database models
• Dependencies, normal forms and other database design considerations
• Some sample query languages and query processing
• Query optimization
• Concurrency
• Recovery
• Security and integrity
• Distributed databases

119
 COMP 4756
Image Processing

Students Interested
This course will be of interest to those students who wish to learn techniques of
specifying, designing and implementing digital image processing software systems.

Objectives of the Course

To provide the key analytical and algorithmic tools and concepts of digital image
processing systems and to apply these tools and concepts to examples chosen from a wide
variety of application areas.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
Special Topics in Applications (Image Processing)

Representative Workload
Assignments 30%
Term Project (Presentation) 20%
In-class Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Image perception
• Image transformation
• Image enhancement
• Image filtering and restoration
• Image analysis
• Image data compression

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly lectures, there will be a minimum three-hour laboratory per
week to be scheduled by the department.
• Credit cannot be obtained for both Computer Science 4756 and Engineering 7854.

120
 COMP 4759
Computer Networks

Students Interested
It is becoming more difficult to avoid hearing about the Internet and its promise to
hook-up the world. The purpose of this course is to show how the Internet really works. It is
concerned with exactly how one computer successfully communicates with a “net” of other
computers.

Objectives of the Course

The main objective of this course is to study the protocols, the design of protocols, and
the implementations of these protocols used to communicate between computers. Several
standard protocols will be examined.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2006 or the former COMP 3715, and COMP 2004 or the former COMP 3725

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Projects 40%
Tests 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Basic terms of communication networks
• The Berkeley Sockets
• The data line layer
• The physical layer
• Error/correcting and detecting codes
• Local area networks
• The network layer
• Transport, session and presentation
• Encryption
• Applications

121
 COMP 4762
Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology

Students Interested
This course is of interest to those wishing to have an introduction to computational
biology.

Objectives of the Course

In recent years, a growing number of genome projects worldwide has been producing
ever-increasing amounts of data on the genetic makeups of a variety of organisms, from bacteria
to plants to human beings. It is widely recognized that extracting useful information from this
data will involve computation on a massive scale. This course will give an overview of
computational problems and algorithms for these problems associated with a variety of analyses
of biological molecular data. As such, this course will focus on the computational complexity
(both time and space) of these problems and algorithms; it is not intended as a course on how
to use existing computational biology software packages, and no prior knowledge of biology is
required.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 3719

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (4) 30%
Term Project 25%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 30%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction
• Pattern matching, pattern detection, and alignment
• Inferring evolutionary trees
• Sequence folding
• Meta-sequence analyses

122
 COMP 4766
Introduction to Autonomous Robotics

Students Interested
Autonomous robotics is a very active research area in computer science. It addresses
fundamental questions of how an agent can move, navigate, and carry out high-level tasks in
unknown and noisy environments. This course will introduce students to algorithms and
technologies that have emerged from research in autonomous robotics. These concepts are
critical in any study of robotics systems. Further, they have wider applicability in various
industries where properties of the real world must be sensed, modelled, and acted upon.

Objectives of the Course

This course will introduce students to the fundamental constraints, technologies, and
algorithms of autonomous robotics. The focus will be on computational aspects of autonomous
wheeled mobile robots. The most important themes will be mobility, perception, and navigation.
Assignments will require the implementation of controllers for robots using the Webots and the
LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot kits.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2002 or the former COMP 2711, Mathematics 2000, Mathematics 2050, and
Statistics 1510 or Statistics 2550 or the former Statistics 2510

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (5) 40%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 40%

Representative Course Outline

• Introduction - Major paradigms in robotics
• Mobility - Methods of locomotion; kinematics; simple control systems
• Perception - Sensor technologies; stereo vision; modelling uncertainty of sensors and
positional information
• Localization and Navigation - Environmental representation; Kalman and particle
filtering; simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM)
• Motion Planning - 2-D path planning; obstacle avoidance

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three weekly one-hour lectures, there is a structured laboratory as
scheduled in the university timetable.

123
 COMP 4768
Software Development for Mobile Devices

Students Interested
This course is of interest to students who wish to develop software in a networked mobile
environment.

Objectives of the Course

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the unique challenges of developing
software in a networked mobile environment. Four fundamental aspects will be addressed in this
course: multi-touch interface, network computing in a mobile environment, graphics
programming for mobile devices, and human-computer interaction for mobile devices. In
addition to these general topics, there will be components of the course that are specific to the
iOS and Android OS software development kit.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2008 or the former COMP 2760, COMP 2006 or the former COMP 3715, and
COMP 2005 or the former COMP 3716

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Assignments (4) 20%
Milestone-based Project 40%
Presentation/Demo 5%
Final Exam 35%

There will be one assignment for each major component of the course. The milestone-
based project will be a group project with specific design/development milestones that must be
met throughout the course. Each project will be required to contain some element from each of
the four major components of the course. A short presentation of the final outcomes of the
project will be required. A weekly lab will provide tutorials to assist students in becoming
familiar with the tools in the SDK. There will be no marks assigned in the lab. Student groups
will be given a choice from a selection of project topics. For each of these, the general
requirements will be provided. Examples include multi-device ping-pong, network tic-tac-toe,
instant messaging, and location-aware search.

124
Representative Course Outline
• iOS and Android OS development work flows
- IDE
- iPhone simulator
- Device builder
- testing and debugging
• Network computing in a mobile environment
- location services
- context-aware mobile computing
• Graphics programming for mobile devices
- OpenGL ES
- game design for mobile devices
• Human-computer interaction for mobile devices
- multi-touch
- motion sensor

Comments or Notes
• In addition to three hours of lectures per week, there will be a laboratory of one and one-
half hours per week.

125
 COMP 4770
Team Project

Students Interested
This course is required for all computer science majors who are following regulations
prior to the 2016-2017 academic year.

Objectives of the Course

The objective of this course is to develop a working prototype of a software system as
a team effort. A group of students will work on a project for a term, experiencing the advantages
and difficulties of team projects.

Prerequisite(s)
COMP 2003, COMP 2005, COMP 2006, COMP 2007, and six credit hours in
Computer Science course at the 3000-level or above; or the former COMP 3715, the
former COMP 3716, the former COMP 3724, and the former COMP 3754

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Requirements Document 25% (team effort)
Architecture Document 15% (team effort)
Module Document 35% (individual effort)
System Demonstration 25% (team effort)

Representative Course Outline

The following milestones are required for a Computer Science 4770 project:
• Requirements Document
S This document must describe the use cases and functional and non-functional
requirements of the software system, as well as a schedule of the development
tasks and the team member(s) responsible for each task.
S Use cases are a requirements capturing technique.
• Architecture Document
S The document must present the system’s decomposition into modules and the
assignment of responsibility of team members to subsets of the modules.
• Module Documents
S These documents must include the complete description of the functionality and
interface of each module. The module testing plans must be described and
demonstrated.

126
 • System Demonstration
S The integrated system must be demonstrated by the team. The integrated system
includes all software and data required to use the system. It contains an
integration of all the modules.
S A document describing the system testing must be submitted.

The milestones should be reached in the 4th, 6th, 9th and 13th week (respectively) of the
semester.

Comments or Notes
• Attendance is required.
• Students register for Computer Science 4770 as a regular three-hour per week course.
• Due to the nature of this course, CICS students on a placement should not register for
Computer Science 4770 as well.
• Prior to the beginning of the term, registered students must submit a short CV indicating
any experience or expertise relevant to the course.
• In the time slot assigned to the course, groups will meet to discuss their progress. A
graduate student may be assigned to each group for help and advice.

127
 COMP 4780
Honours Project

Students Interested
This course is required of computer science majors who have been accepted into an
honours program.

Objectives of the Course

To introduce computer science honours students to research activities, to familiarize
these students with a special problem in computer science and to provide independent study on
an advanced topic under the supervision of a member of the computer science faculty.

Prerequisite(s)
Admission to the honours program and permission of the Head of the Department. All
required core courses and certain 4000 level computer science courses should be completed.
Students normally register for this course during their last year in the program.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
• Students are expected to spend as much time on this course as any 4000-level computer
science course. An honours student should meet regularly with their chosen supervisor
to discuss the progress of the work and the future direction it should take.
• The topic is decided in consultation with the supervisor. The student is required to
produce a written report, including a literature search on the topic, and to present this
work at a departmental seminar prior to the last week of the semester. The final grade
will be based on the written report, the seminar and the discussions between the student
and supervisor, with the weighting of each at the discretion of the supervisor.
• No grade will be submitted for this course until all of the required work has been
completed.

Representative Course Outline

Not applicable

Comments or Notes
• Registration for this course is by Course Change form only.
• An honours degree offers a greater specialization in a particular area of computer science
and as such, requires higher than average academic achievement. An honours degree is
frequently a requirement for admission to an M.Sc. program. Any student interested in
enrolling in an honours program is advised to consult with the Head of the department
on the topic for their project before beginning any research.
• For the degree Honours in Computer Science (Software Engineering), the honours
project must be in the area of software engineering.

128
 COMP 4800-4825
Special Topics

Students Interested
Those who want a more in-depth study in a specified area.

Objectives of the Course

To give students exposure to current and topical information.

Prerequisite(s)
Special topics courses are not offered on a regular basis, but whenever departmental
resources permit. For this reason the prerequisites can vary each time the courses are offered.

Successor(s)
None

Representative Workload
Variable

Representative Course Outline

Variable

Comments or Notes
• All relevant information on a special topics course is posted on the Computer Science
website and the bulletin board outside the Computer Science General Office several
weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the course is being offered.

129
4 Appendix

4.1 Prerequisite Structure of Core Courses

Notes:
• Students are advised to check the specific prerequisite(s) of each elective course.
• Computer Science 2006, 2007 and 2008 are one-credit hour courses.

130
INDEX of Computer Science Courses

COMP 1000 - Computer Science - An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

COMP 1001 - Introduction to Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
COMP 1002 - Introduction to Logic for Computer Scientists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
COMP 1003 - Foundations of Computing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
COMP 1400 - Computing in the 20th Century and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
COMP 1401 - Computing at the Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
COMP 1510 - An Introduction to Programming for Scientific Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
COMP 1600 - Basic Computing and Information Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
COMP 2000 - Collaborative and Emergent Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
COMP 2001 - Object-Oriented Programming and Human-Computer Interaction . . 51
COMP 2002 - Data Structures and Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
COMP 2003 - Computer Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
COMP 2004 - Introduction to Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
COMP 2005 - Software Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
COMP 2006 - Computer Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
COMP 2007 - Introduction to Information Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
COMP 2008 - Social Issues and Professional Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
COMP 2100 - Social Web Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
COMP 2300 - Introduction to Multimedia Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
COMP 2500 - Data Analysis with Scripting Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
COMP 2510 - Programming in C/C++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
COMP 2718 - Development Tools, Work Flows and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
COMP 3100 - Web Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
COMP 3200 - Algorithmic Techniques for Smart Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
COMP 3201 - Introduction to Nature-Inspired Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
COMP 3202 - Introduction to Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
COMP 3300 - Interactive Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
COMP 3301 - Visual Computing and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
COMP 3401 - Introduction to Data Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
COMP 3550 - Introduction to Bioinformatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
COMP 3700 - Industrial Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
COMP 3710 - Vocational Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
COMP 3718 - Programming in the Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
COMP 3719 - Theory of Computation and Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
COMP 3731 - Introduction to Scientific Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
COMP 3753 - Computational Aspects of Linear Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
COMP 4300 - Introduction to Game Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
COMP 4301 - Computer Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
COMP 4302 - 3D Computer Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
COMP 4303 - Artificial Intelligence in Computer Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
COMP 4304 - Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

131
COMP 4550 - Bioinformatics: Biological Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
COMP 4711 - Structure of Programming Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
COMP 4712 - Compiler Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
COMP 4715 and COMP-4717 - Special Topics in Programming Languages . . . . . . . . . . 105
COMP 4718 - Survey of Software Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
COMP 4721 - Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
COMP 4723 - Introduction to Microprocessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
COMP 4726 to 4729 - Special Topics in Computer Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
COMP 4734 - Matrix Computations and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
COMP 4736 to 4739 - Special Topics in Numerical Computations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
COMP 4740 - Design and Analysis of Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
COMP 4741 - Formal Languages and Computability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
COMP 4742 - Computational Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
COMP 4743 - Graph Algorithms and Combinatorial Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
COMP 4745 to 4749 (excluding 4748) - Special Topics in Theoretical Aspects . . . . . . . 117
COMP 4750 - Introduction to Natural Language Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
COMP 4754 - Database Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
COMP 4756 - Image Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
COMP 4759 - Computer Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
COMP 4762 - Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
COMP 4766 - Introduction to Autonomous Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
COMP 4768 - Software Development for Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
COMP 4770 - Team Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
COMP 4780 - Honours Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
COMP 4800 to 4825 - Special Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

132